Investors See Little Pain for Stocks From Fed Decision
What, us worry?</br></br>Some investors think the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its policy meeting today; some think it won't. Both camps seem to think that whatever the Fed does, it won't hurt too much.</br></br>In that only-slightly-nervous environment, stocks were virtually flat yesterday, one of the least pronounced moves recently on a day before a Fed policy meeting. The Nasdaq Composite Index, dominated by technology darlings such as Cisco Systems, fell only a hair after setting a string of 11 records in 12 trading days. It inched down 1.61 points to 3219.54. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell a comparable 8.57 points to 10760.75.</br></br>Bonds rose slightly and the dollar fell.</br></br>For the first time in months, noted Larry Lawler, head of stock trading at Dreyfus Corp., "people expect the announcement to be a nonevent." And the general view, he adds, is that a nonevent is good for stocks.