-->Federal Reserve officials and economists, who get together in Jackson Hole, Wyo., to typically discuss the outlook for the next 16 months, suddenly cannot see past the next 16 days.

David Hale, an economist and a regular at the Jackson Hole conference, called the current environment"a crisis of information."
There are no accurate data about the true value of complicated securities tied to mortgages and where losses might pop up next, he said. The freeze in the commercial-paper market will also surely lead to losses, especially for small banks, but by how much is unknown, Hale added.
<ul> ~ THE FED View from Jackson Hole is hazy and gloomy</ul>