Under the NPR, positions covered would include only those GAAP trading assets and liabilities that either meet the rule's definition of a trading position or are hedges of other positions covered by the rule. Trading positions would be defined as positions held for short-term resale, held with the intent of benefiting from actual or expected price movements, or held to lock in arbitrage profits.
Also, the expansion in the output gap in the economy is expected to slow as the economic stimulus package is implemented. In the immediate future, however, prices are likely to weaken reflecting the present high inventory level and the relatively large output gap. In the financial markets, both long and short-term interest rates followed a declining trend with the releases of weak economic indicators.