[abb]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/economy-uncertain-no-fed-rate-153058237.html

With economy uncertain, no Fed rate hike is seen before fall

Associated Press By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer
4/27/2015

WASHINGTON (AP) — For 6½ years, the Federal Reserve has held its key interest rate near zero, and for nearly that long the financial world has speculated about when the Fed will start raising it.

Don’t look for it soon.

That’s the view of most economists, who say a still-subpar economy and still-low inflation will keep rates at record lows at least until September.

On Wednesday, the Fed could clarify its plans after ending its latest policy meeting. Analysts caution, though, against expecting any specific guidance on the Fed’s timetable for a rate hike. Too many uncertainties still surround the U.S. economy. The Fed’s policymakers may want to leave themselves maneuvering room until their view of the economy’s health becomes clearer.

[expat_panama]

What my thinking had been before was that the Fed would never raise rates if there was no inflation. Now I'm thinking that the fed may still be concerned about deflation and wish it still had the capacity to lower rates --thus they wish they could set them higher now --just in case-- so long as the rate hike didn't hurt anything.

This talk about the 'soft' economy means any rate hike would probably be a disaster --both to production and to prices.