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Federal Open Market Committee

The Federal Reserve controls the cost and availability of money through actions decided by the Federal Open Market Committee (a 12-members group, 7 from the Federal Reserve's governing board, 4 rotating from regional bank presidencies and the twelfth, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York)


The FOMC influence the money supply by setting reserve requirements (the percentage of deposits banks are required to hold on reserve), the discount rate (essentially the prime interest rate, or the cost of short term lending) and open market operations (where the Fed may move markets directly through market intervention).

Learn More About the Federal Reserve System
Learn About the Market Impact of FOMC Meetings
For more information on the above term, try: Monetary Policy Money And Interest Rates - By Country