Fed's Fisher slams Twist move as ineffective (by Greg Robb)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher slammed the central bank's decision last week to extend the maturity of its balance sheet dubbed Operation Twist, calling it "jujitsu on the yield curve" that is 'likely to prove ineffective" and could actually work against job creation. In a speech in Dallas, Fisher said his regular business contacts gave him an "earful" of arguments against a twist plan before the Fed meeting. The executives argued it would scare consumers, hurt banks and pension funds and make the Fed's eventual exit from ultra-easy monetary policy more difficult, he said. Fisher was one of three Fed regional bank presidents who voted against the Twist plan. Fisher said he did support the Fed's decision to reinvest maturing agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities into agency MBS as "a tactical way to provide limited assistance to the mortgage market at little cost."