Troubling Views in Beige Book

The Federal Reserve's latest regional survey didn't have much to offer the bulls, providing instead a picture of a rather sluggish U.S. economy.

Reports from the 12 Fed banks, presented in a document known as the beige book, suggest economic activity continued to expand in all districts in September and early October but at a slower pace than in August.

Growth was similar to that observed in the last beige book in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia and St. Louis, but the economy grew at a weaker rate in the Cleveland, Dallas, Kansas City, Richmond and San Francisco districts. The expansion was generally described as "moderate," "modest" or "mixed," the Fed said Wednesday. ...