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Investors to seek clues as Yellen enters spotlight in first news conference as Fed chair
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Investors will be watching closely Wednesday for any hints of how a Janet Yellen-led Federal Reserve might differ from the path set by her predecessor, Ben Bernanke.
• The Yellen era will begin in earnest when the Fed ends two days of policy discussions. It will be her first meeting as Fed chair, a position she assumed Feb. 3, after Bernanke stepped down after eight high-profile years.
• After the Fed issues a statement at the end of its policy meeting and updates its economic forecasts, Yellen will preside over a news conference. She is widely expected to embrace Bernanke's approach of keeping interest rates low while gradually paring the Fed's economic stimulus.
• Most analysts expect the Fed to announce a third reduction in the monthly pace of its bond purchases from $65 billion to $55 billion. Those reductions are expected to continue this year until the bond purchases end altogether by December.
• The Fed's bond purchases have been intended to keep long-term borrowing rates low to spur spending and growth. Its decision to continue paring them signals its belief that the economy is showing consistent improvement.
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Police expert: Pistorius' girlfriend standing when 1st shot hit hip; arm, head shots last
• PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) -- Reeva Steenkamp was standing in a toilet cubicle and facing the closed door when she was hit in the right hip by the first of four hollow point bullets fired at her by Oscar Pistorius, a police ballistics expert testified Wednesday at the double-amputee Olympic runner's murder trial.
• Steenkamp then fell back onto a magazine holder in the cubicle and was struck in the right arm and head by the last two shots fired by Pistorius with his 9 mm pistol through the door. Pistorius' girlfriend crossed her arms over her head to protect herself, Capt. Christiaan Mangena said, when she was hit in the arm and head. He testified that he believed the second bullet shot missed Steenkamp and ricocheted off a wall inside the cubicle and broke into fragments, which caused bruising on her back.
• Mangena concluded through his analysis of the shooting scene and wounds on Steenkamp's body from post-mortem photographs that one of the final two bullets (Continued on page 30)
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