Investment News asks, "Is the Fed raising rates on the QT?" The story says, "The Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department quietly have taken the first tangible steps to raising interest rates, according to bond manager Dave Pequet. With little fanfare, the Treasury Department announced March 18 that it would start selling a $142 billion portfolio of mortgage-backed securities acquired during the financial crisis. On March 23, the Federal Reserve, which owns about $944 billion of mortgage-backed instruments, announced it would start a new, 'gradually expanding' round of small reverse-repurchase transactions, said Mr. Pequet, president of MPI Investment Management Inc." In other news, ICI reported its latest "Money Market Mutual Fund Assets". It says, "Total money market mutual fund assets increased by $3.94 billion to $2.736 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, March 30, the Investment Company Institute reported today. Taxable government funds increased by $7.22 billion, taxable non-government funds increased by $260 million, and tax-exempt funds decreased by $3.54 billion." Finally, Crane Data competitor iMoneyNet announced the release of "Detailed Money Market Holdings Data."
