Posted by Leonard Steinberg on December 15th, 2013 Is the important question of who the next Fed chief will be on the ‘unknowns’ checklist item about to be answered?  It appears so: Stock index futures soared this morning as investors bet that Larry Summers withdrawal as a candidate for the chairman of the Federal Reserve could mean a slower scaling back of monetary stimulus by the U.S. central bank. News of Summers’ surprise decision on Sunday afternoon came before the U.S. central bank meets on Tuesday and Wednesday to decide when and by how much to scale back its asset purchases from the current pace of $85 billion a month. S&P 500 futures rose 17.8 points, DOW futures rose 167 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 35.3 points. But is it good that Federal Reserve officials will gather this week to decide on policies that will unfold over the next two to three years without knowing who will lead the institution during that time? Of the two leading candidates for the Fed, Summers was regarded as more eager to taper the Fed’s $85 million a month bond-buying program. Janet Yellen (the candidate of continuity?), the Fed’s current vice chair and the other candidate seen as a leading contender, has been more widely perceived by investors as favoring a more gradual easing of stimulus. It seems likely that President Obama will choose Yellen, which is good in terms of the prospects of the Fed staying on hold for some time. There are always chances that the Fed may begin to announce the trimming on Wednesday, but that’s already been factored into the market most seem to agree. The U.S. dollar slipped to a near four-week low. Policy makers will decide at their Sept. 17-18 meeting whether the economy is strong enough to begin tapering $85 billion in monthly bond purchases. As they do so, they will use so-called forward guidance to convince investors they can keep interest rates low for as long as it takes to bring down unemployment so long as prices remain in check. Continued Fed stimulated markets and a weaker dollar are perceived by most as good for the real estate market. In June, 15 of 19 Fed officials said it would be appropriate to keep the benchmark lending rate near zero until 2015 or later. Many, however, are concerned the Fed risks creating asset-price bubbles and unmooring inflation expectations. Fewer uncertainties are healthy for the real estate markets:  it feels like the official start of the Fall real estate market begins this week with phones and computer alerts chirping much more frequently than they have for the past 2 weeks. .