James Bullard: The Fed is "not here to ratify what the markets think..take that Mr. Market!

Greg Robb
10/21/10
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said Thursday that he favored an open-ended program of bond purchases in monthly increments of about $100 billion to stimulate the economy, according to wire service reports.

Bullard said that the Fed has not made any decision to re-start bond purchases, also known as quantitative easing. Bullard said there is disagreement over the size of any plan. He pushed back on the sentiment from many Fed watchers that more bond purchases are in train because the central bank will be unwilling to disappoint financial markets that have already priced in more Fed action.

The Fed is "not here to ratify what the markets think," Bullard said. The stock market rose and the dollar pared gains after Bullard's comments