by Calculated Risk on 6/17/2013 09:22:00 PM

Earlier today, Robin Harding at the Financial Times released a market moving story of the Fed: Fed likely to signal tapering move is close

Ben Bernanke is likely to signal that the US Federal Reserve is close to tapering down its $85bn-a-month in asset purchases when he holds a press conference on Wednesday, but balance that by saying subsequent moves depend on what happens to the economy.
excerpt with permission

This depends on the definition of "close". I think it is very unlikely the Fed will start to taper before September, and based on my expectations of only a slow improvement in the unemployment rate and continued low inflation, I think they will wait even longer.

Tuesday economic releases:
• At 8:30 AM, Housing Starts for May. The consensus is for total housing starts to increase to 950 thousand (SAAR) in May.

• Also at 8:30 AM, the Consumer Price Index for May will be released. The consensus is for a 0.2% decrease in CPI in May and for core CPI to increase 0.2%.