I expected Greenie & Co to raise, but a review of the Ms shows they are back to growing them again. So we might indeed have a pause. http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h6/Current/
do you have adjustable mortgage? then you better pray. the word from a person i know is that ever since he purchased his house with adjustable mortage, the payments have been going up every month. he's praying & short of begging the fed to stop. waiting for housing bubble to pop like the fourth of july? then, go, raise it by 100 basis points! no wait, 200! squeeze those ppl along w/high energy costs. and the bankruptcy law is changing in october. even though alot of people got great deals on their highly leveraged automobiles from the big 3 detroit manufatuerers, how are they gonna pay for their gas? how long does it take to max out their credit cards so they can "ride it out"? objectively... higher energy prices usually means inflation. and PPI went through the roof last month... so.... you make the call.
They will raise .25 again. They will want to signal an end to rate hikes before they do it. We may get some change in language but I doubt they will even signal a halt. Basically the hit to GDP is offset by the inflationary pressures of higher fuel prices. Also, the biggest economic sectors in the area are shipping, energy, & tourism. The shipping and energy facilities will be rebuilt quickly and much of the lost tourism $$$ will simply be spent somewhere else in the US. Cheers, TRADERguy