Alva Review-Courier -

WASHINGTON (AP) — It will come as no surprise if the Federal Reserve has an announcement to make when its latest policy meeting ends Wednesday: That it's ready to begin paring its enormous $4.5 trillion portfolio containing Treasurys and mortgage bonds.

The Fed expanded its bond holdings — the major assets on its balance sheet — in the years after the financial crisis erupted in 2008. It bought the bonds to try to hold down mortgage and other loan rates and support a fragile economy. The Fed stopped buying new bonds in 2014 but kept its balance sheet high by reinvesting the proceeds of maturin...