• The level at which the Federal Reserve's federal funds rate, the overnight rate charged between banks, neither stimulates nor slows economic growth.
• A rate that varies depending on economic conditions.
• A number that several Fed officials have recently pegged at between 3 percent and 5 percent.
• The subject of intense speculation as traders, investors and analysts guess how far the Fed will go in raising the rate over the next year or so.
• "A moving target," according to Fed Bank of Cleveland President Sandra Pianalto.
• A number that Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan has declined to specify, saying, "When we arrive at neutral, we will know it."
-- N.H.
