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Parryadd/dt1st/mark2nd Q: Considering the influence that the Federal Reserve has on the financial markets, are you allowed to personally trade securities? A: I’m not required to keep my money in the top drawer of my dresser. But I can’t own bank stocks or any institutions that may borrow money from the Federal Reserve. The way I do it is to invest in mutual funds. There are obviously banks in there, but it is also obvious that I am not buying it on the basis that I can affect the stocks. We are very careful and are advised not to make major financial decisions a week before an FOMC meeting. Q: The fact that the Fed cut interest rates again sparked speculation that it was expecting some bad economic news in the near future. A: You can understand why people thought that, because there really wasn’t much weakness in the economy. And obviously that issue was discussed at the Federal Reserve meeting. And I just have to say that we thought that there were some continuing weakness in financial markets that suggested it would be good to reduce the rate another quarter of a percent.