The Financial Post reports in its Tuesday, Jan. 23, edition that United States Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell and his colleagues could be forgiven if they are feeling a bit like parents on an extended road trip with their children. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that investors eager for interest rate cuts keep asking policy-makers, "Are we there yet?" The repeated reply so far, "Soon, but not quite yet." The Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to hold rates steady for the fourth straight meeting when it gathers in Washington on Jan. 30 and Jan. 31. The real focus though will be on what lies ahead, at the FOMC's March meeting and beyond. Policy-makers have recently suggested they are ready to begin discussing the broad parameters for lowering rates after giving the subject only a passing nod at their most recent meeting in December. Several have also indicated a willingness to entertain rate cuts in the first half of 2024 if inflation falls faster than expected. Officials, however, have not given any sign they plan to use their forthcoming gathering to tee up a rate cut for March, although that does not preclude one from happening in response to economic shifts between now and then.