When the Fed Raises Rates, These Traders Make It Happen

Traders at the New York Fed use a series of tools to implement the central bank’s rate policy

When the Federal Reserve moves to raise interest rates, the action will be centered in a small room overlooking lower Manhattan where a digital timer hangs from the ceiling like a shot clock at a basketball game and a video camera links the central bank’s traders to their counterparts in other cities.

Lining one wall are trading terminals and framed black-and-white photos of Fed employees carrying out market operations decades ago. Phones in the room provide the central bank with direct lines to Wall Street banks.