--- title: The Beige Book Is Reassuring description: market commentary, Federal Reserve, Beige Book, stock market, economy was moving along at a modest to moderate pace, next FOMC meeting, low rate of inflation image: https://investor.valueline.com/hubfs/VL%20Blog%20Images/Financial_3140396_200x140.jpg --- [![The Value Line Blog](https://investor.valueline.com/hubfs/VL%20Blog%20Images/vl_blog_header.png)](https://investor.valueline.com/blog) [Market Commentary](https://investor.valueline.com/blog/topic/market-commentary) # The Beige Book Is Reassuring October 18, 2017 The Federal Reserve issued its Beige Book economic summation a little earlier this afternoon, and there were no surprises. In fact, the stock market, up strongly at that time, continued to hold its impressive gains following the mid-afternoon issuance. Specifically, the report, which will be used as a guide by the Fed in formulating economic policy for its next FOMC meeting on October 31st and November 1st, intoned that the nation's economy was moving along at a modest to moderate pace in all 12 of the lead bank's Districts. That represented some improvement from past Beige Book compilations, in which the business advance had been viewed as more selectively based.  This advance, by market, took in manufacturing, non-financial services, retail activity, car sales, tourism, and residential building. Also, while labor markets were described as tight, the majority of Districts reported only modest-to-moderate wage pressures. Hence, inflation remained under control. Given this most satisfactory backdrop, and even with the low rate of inflation, our thinking is that the Federal Reserve will increase borrowing costs at its mid-December FOMC gathering. As before, we sense that the late-October confab will result in no interest rate adjustment. Such a timetable should be reassuring to equity investors, as it would again suggest that the bank has no place to become overly aggressive in restricting the economic upturn. — Harvey S. Katz, CFA *At the time of this article’s writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.* [![Register now for our free One Stock to Buy webinar](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2532383/5a80130b-f0ce-4bd8-acbd-f077f2232ec5.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2532383/5a80130b-f0ce-4bd8-acbd-f077f2232ec5) ### Popular Posts Search Search Blog ### Topics - [Investing 101 (2)](https://investor.valueline.com/blog/topic/investing-101) - [Market Commentary (37)](https://investor.valueline.com/blog/topic/market-commentary) - [Stock Highlights (390)](https://investor.valueline.com/blog/topic/stock-highlights) - [Stock Market Today (2071)](https://investor.valueline.com/blog/topic/stock-market-today) Copyright 2026 Value Line, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factual material is obtained from sources believed to be reliable and is provided without warranties of any kind. VALUE LINE IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS HEREIN OR ANY DAMAGES OR LOSSES ARISING FROM ANY USE OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN. This blog is strictly for subscriber's own, non-commercial, internal use. No part of it may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any printed, electronic or other form, or used for generating or marketing any printed or electronic publication, service or product. Officers, directors, or employees of Value Line, Inc. and its affiliates and subsidiaries, and EULAV Asset Management, may own stocks that are featured in this email. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer to buy or sell securities or to give individual investment advice. Value Line, the Value Line logo, The Most Trusted Name in Investment Research, “Smart research. Smarter investing.”, The Value Line Investment Survey, Timeliness, and Safety are trademarks or registered trademarks of Value Line, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries.