FT: The Fed's QE2 this Wednesday. Nov 3

...Rather than a huge programme of asset purchases all announced up front, the Fed has made clear that it wants QE2 to evolve in size depending on the economic data. But it is still likely to make a downpayment by pledging at least some asset purchases on Wednesday: $500bn is a likely figure for this initial round of buying.

It will also set a buying speed. The Fed already has to buy $30bn of Treasuries a month in order to reinvest early repayments from its portfolio of mortgage-backed securities, so it is unlikely to want to buy more than a further $80bn-$100bn a month. If the initial figure were $500bn, it could therefore pledge to buy them over the next two quarters. Far more important, however, is what the Fed says about further purchases once the initial round is complete.