The Fed is about to take the unusual step of cutting interest rates to save an economic expansion, not an economy that seems set to be headed into a downward spiral. The Federal Open Market Committee, at the end of its two-day meeting Wednesday, is widely expected to announce a quarter point rate cut, its first since it took interest rates to zero during the financial crisis in December, 2008. It is also expected to leave the door open to further rate cuts. Some market pros expect a 50 basis point cut, but the fed funds futures market puts the probability of a quarter point cut at more than 78% and a half percent cut ... (full story)