Why did equities sell off despite what appeared to be dovish outcome of the Fed meeting? Mohamed El-Erian offers three possibilities.

Mel and Harriet (last names withheld) from Coconut Creek, Florida returned home after a trip up to New York and saw something alarming - their locks hadbeen changed, the power had been turned off, and items were missing. It turns out someone had broken into their house. But it wasn't any common thief, as WPLG Local 10 News reports.

To mark " Sunshine Week ," a national initiative launched by the media to promote open government, Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) is calling on CFPB Director Richard Cordray to end the bureau's closed-door meeting policy for its four advisory councils. "Instead of operating behind closed doors, it's time for the CFPB to live up to its oft-stated commitment to transparency and openness.  In the interest of true, genuine transparency and open government, Director Cordray can and should use 'Sunshine Week' to take immediate steps that bring the CFPB into the sunlight," said Chairman Hensarling. The Bipartisan Policy Center has also criticized the CFPB for closing its advisory group meetings to the public. The CFPB claims on its website that "Transparency is at the core of our agenda You deserve to know what we're doing for the American public and how we are doing it." However, four advisory groups created by the CFPB conduct virtually all of their business behind closed doors - refusing requests by members of the public and even a member of Congress to attend them.  The meetings are also closed to the press. For example, the agenda for the CFPB's Consumer Advisory Board's last meeting shows only two hours - out of two days' worth of meetings - were open to the public. The CFPB's advisory groups - which include the Community Bank Advisory Council, the Credit Union Advisory Council, and the Academic Research Council in addition to the Consumer Advisory Board - are made up of industry representatives, consumer activists and academics. "What goes on at these meetings?" asked Congressman Sean Duffy (R-WI), a member of the Financial Services Committee who requested to attend the Consumer Advisory Board's February meeting.  "If the CFPB is as committed to transparency as it claims, then why was I denied entry when I asked to attend?" CFPB...

Barbara S. Mishkin Republican Congressman Jeb Hensarling, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, called on the CFPB this week to end its closed-door meeting policy for its four advisory groups. Those groups consist of the Community Bank Advisory Council, the Credit Union Advisory Council, the Academic Research Council, and the Consumer Advisory Board. The Committee’s press release... More >

Today the Federal Open Market Committee directed the Open Market Trading Desk at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to purchase additional agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of about $25 billion per month and longer-term Treasury securities at a pace of about $30 billion per month, beginning in April 2014.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Treasury prices fell sharply Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said it would shift its method of saying it would keep rates low by considering a wide range of factors in deciding when to raise its key policy rate. The central bank also said it would continue cutting its bond-buying stimulus program, as expected. After the announcement, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield, which rises as prices fall, was up 7.5 basis points on the day at 2.753%. The 5-year note yield surged 12 basis points to 1.670%, and the 3-year note yield jumped 10.5 basis points to 0.862%. The 30-year bond yield rose 4.5 basis points to 3.671%

Rising home prices may force would-be homebuyers to reassess how much house they can afford this spring. Tips for buyers and sellers.

Rising home prices may force would-be homebuyers to reassess how much house they can afford this spring. Tips for buyers and sellers.

If George Akerlof offered advice to his wife, Janet Yellen, ahead of her first policy meeting this week as chairwoman of the Federal Reserve , it may have gone something like this: Don't be too nice to the hawks. Mr. Akerlof and Robert Shiller , both Nobel Prize-winning economists, in 2009 wrote a book called "Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism." In it, they blamed the "Great Canadian Slump" of the 1990s on the anti-inflation policies of John Crow and Gordon Thiessen, then-governors of the Bank of Canada. "This story should serve as a warning. For the past quarter century the United States has had a sensible monetary policy, which carefully balances the twin goals of price stability and full employment," Mr. Akerlof and Mr. Shiller wrote. "But we are in great fear of ideologues on a future Federal Reserve Board who will consider it their duty to define price stability as zero inflation, and see no great cost in achieving it."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. current account deficit tumbled to a 14-year low in the fourth quarter as exports touched a record high, a government report showed on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- KB Home [S: KBH] reported early Wednesday that it swung to a profit of $10.6 million in its fiscal first quarter, or 12 cents a share. In the year-earlier period, the company recorded a loss of $12.5 million, or 16 cents a share. Meanwhile, revenue rose to $450.7 million from $405.2 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected the Los Angeles-based company, one of the country's largest home builders, to report earnings of 8 cents a share and revenue of $445 million.

CHICAGO, IL (Marketwired) - A new TransUnion study has found that, as of September 2013, consumers were once again prioritizing their mortgage payments ahead of their credit card payments. This reverses a trend that began in September 2008, when the mortgage crisis drove consumer payment preferences toward paying credit cards ahead of mortgages. The study also found that consumers have placed an emphasis on paying their auto loans before their mortgages and credit card payments -- by a wide margin -- since at least 2003.

Applications for U.S. home mortgages fell last week as both purchase and refinancing applications slipped, an industry group said on Wednesday.

U.S. bonds continued to move higher ahead of the conclusion of the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting.

Fannie Mae Supports The US Environmental Protection Agency's Progress in Developing the ENERGY STAR Score and Label for Existing Multifamily ...