The Federal Funds Rate is the interest rate banks charge each other for loans.

The Federal Funds Effective Rate is the weighted average of the interest rate that the borrowing bank pays to the lending bank to borrow the funds that is negotiated between the two banks.

The U.S. central bank's "Summary of commentary on current economic conditions," otherwise known as the Beige Book, compiles results from a survey that Fed investigators take of businesses in the nine Federal Reserve districts.

Eight times a year, the Federal Reserve issues the Beige Book, a snapshot of business conditions in each of the Fed's 12 regional bank districts. The findings are all anecdotal; there are no numbers. The Beige Book is updated two weeks before each meeting of the Fed's policymaking meeting in Washington.

The idea is to detect trends in Consumer Spending, Manufacturing and Real Estate, among other areas. Consumer spending is particularly important because it accounts for about 70% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and also accounts for more than 2/3 of the economy, therefore it is indicative of the general health of the economy.

By law, the FOMC must meet at least four times each year in Washington, D.C. Since 1981 the FOMC holds eight regularly scheduled meetings during the year and other meetings as needed.

1. Beige Book: Come first.
2. FOMC Meeting: Some can last 2 days
3. FOMC Minutes: After 3 weeks of the meeting
4. FOMC Forecast: After 3 weeks of the meeting