... "at least into the second quarter of next year in order to maintain over time ample reserve balances at or above the level that prevailed in early September 2019", is QE or is "Not A QE", a key development was lost in the din surrounding the bigger picture.

As Rabobank's Philip Marey writes, after hesitating at the September 17-18 meeting, the FOMC decided to announce balance sheet expansion well before the next meeting on October 29-30. This is earlier than the Committee anticipated at the previous meeting; it is also well ahead of the Wall Street consensus that had formed a balance sheet announcement would be made at the November FOMC: "After all, at the press conference on September 18, Powell indicated that 'organic growth' of the level of reserves would be high on the agenda of the October meeting."

However, in his speech to the NABE last week (October 8) Powell was more explicit and said that the FOMC would "soon" announce measures to add to the supply of reserves over time.