This week's open market committee members will foreshadow Garth

Today and tomorrow (1/25-26) the FOMC meeting of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee will herald a 25 basis point Fed rate hike.

Most of the 45 economists polled by Bloomberg forecast the Fed will use its Jan. 25-26 policy meeting to herald a 25-basis-point rate hike, but two economists expect a surprise 50-basis-point hike. To deal with soaring prices - this would be the biggest rate hike since 2000.

In addition, 43% of economists believe that the FOMC may revise its policy statement to make it clear that it will raise interest rates at its March meeting; but another 43% said that officials will suggest that a rate hike may soon be appropriate, keeping Flexibility in time.

Grant Thornton LLP: The Fed's inflation stance has gone from patient to panic in record short time.

This is the first time since the 1980s that it is catching up rather than ahead of inflation. The risk is that they go too far, are too keen to fight inflation, and that monetary policy hits the brakes too hard.