The next couple employment reports will attract an extraordinary degree of attention in the markets. They are widely viewed as holding the key of whether the Fed remains on a tightening path beyond January.

There's a strong view that it will be very hard to push two-year yields below 1.75 percent in a significant way without a development that could keep the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates until the end of next year or 2005, so we're stalling a bit.

The key is whether consumers' income will be able to keep up, and that looks encouraging so far.

A reasonable interpretation is they're going to go again in May unless the ( economic) numbers make a compelling case against.

The market is likely to find enough underpinnings in the FOMC statement to lessen fears of Fed tightening in the next several months.

They are confirming in their own subtle way there are some more moves ahead, whether it is one, two or three rises.