Fed front-runner Janet Yellen seen as more independent

WASHINGTON (AP) — Janet Yellen is now the clear front-runner to be nominated as chair of the powerful Federal Reserve and her status as President Barack Obama’s second choice, while awkward, could ultimately serve as an asset during confirmation and in the central bank’s top job.

Her supporters and some Fed watchers argue that Yellen will have more independence from the president in the autonomous Fed even as she helps him avoid the bruising and potentially losing confirmation fight he would have had with his first choice, Larry Summers.