Greenspan Shrugged: The Fed's Support Role Is Nearly Finished

(Updated from 11:11 a.m. EDT)

The equity market has a love-hate relationship with Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan , depending on what kind of lip service it's getting. Today, Greenspan's eagerly awaited comments provoke neither love nor hate, rather a general dislike.

The chairman, currently answering questions following his delivery of the Federal Reserve's semiannual assessment on monetary policy and the economic outlook before Congress, had only one zinger in his typically careful, well-measured comments. In his speech, he suggested that despite further expected weakness in the economy, the Fed is nearly finished, if not completely finished, cutting interest rates for now.

"Certainly, should conditions warrant, we may need to ease further, but we must not lose sight of the prerequisite of longer-run price stability for realizing the economy's full growth potential over time," Greenspan said. ...