>Why is it important that the Fed operate secretly?
They used to operate very secretly. But under Greenspan - thanks in no small part to subpoena threats from former House Banking Committee chair Henry Gonzalez - they started operating a lot more openly. They now issue press releases after policy meetings and generally make their intentions pretty clear in speeches and interviews. But in the financial markets everyone wants to be at least one step ahead of the other guy, so trying to suss out what they're up to behind their public statements takes up a lot of time and attention.
Doug