We're baffled by the dovish reaction to the Federal Reserve's Statement yesterday. It said, "Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in September suggests that economic activity has continued to pick up.... Activity in the housing sector has increased over recent months. Household spending appears to be expanding but remains constrained by ongoing job losses, sluggish income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit.... The Committee will maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and continues to anticipate that economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period." Our admittedly optimistic (for higher rates) read shows a Fed clearly starting to lean towards a hike. In other news, see FT's "Money market funds need new global standards".