Federal Reserve Board Chairwoman Janet Yellen testifies before a House Financial Services committee hearing on "Monetary Policy and the State of the Economy" on Capitol Hill in Washington. It will surprise no one if the US Federal Reserve increases rates at its December 16 meeting. That fact appears to have been settled with the release of the October FOMC meeting minutes and a consistent series of comments and the accompanying theme from Fed speakers for the past month that the time is right for the first rate hike in the US in nine years. But while the timing of the first move seems settled, there remains some ... (full story)