The Federal Reserve's exit from its extraordinarily lax monetary policy "has begun," Stanley Fischer, President Barack Obama's nominee to become Fed vice chairman, said Thursday. However, while the Fed is scaling back the bond buying it has been doing to hold down long-term interest rates, Fischer indicated it is not time to think about raising short-term rates, as he testified in a confirmation hearing on his nomination to fill the number two job vacated by Janet Yellen when she succeeded Ben Bernanke as Fed Chair Feb. 1. The Fed's still accommodative policy, including its near zero setting for the overnight ... (full story)