A record of the Federal Reserve’s July policy meeting due Wednesday is set to show only a minority of officials favored holding interest rates steady over the remainder of the year, according to Bloomberg Economics. At the same time, a majority “likely maintained cautious optimism” that the US economy is in for a soft landing, Bloomberg economists Anna Wong and Stuart Paul wrote Tuesday in a preview of minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s July 25-26 meeting. “Officials who favored holding rates steady after July — the minority on the FOMC — may be more concerned about deteriorating credit conditions,” Wong ... (full story)