Wednesday

Stocks snapped a three-day losing streak today as the Federal Reserve's minutes showed central-bank officials are in no hurry to tighten monetary policy even as they held detailed exit-strategy talks. Federal Reserve officials appeared to agree that letting the central bank's balance sheet slowly shrink was likely to be the first step toward tightening monetary policy. Nevertheless, they aren't ready to start executing the plan until they are sure the economy can bear it. Caterpillar, Chevron and Exxon Mobil helped power the Dow Jones Industrial Average up .7%. The Standard & Poor's rise was led by the materials and energy sectors. DJIA +80.60 Nasdaq +31.79 S&P 500 +11.70.