Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve policy makers don’t expect to know for days whether their Aug. 17 discount-rate reduction will succeed at calming markets, Fed watchers say.

Yields on three-month Treasury bills yesterday fell the most since the 1987 stock-market crash as money market funds dumped asset-backed commercial paper in favor of the shortest- maturity government debt. Fed officials, who said they would accept everything from home-equity finance to municipal bonds as collateral for loans, expect some disruptions because banks are more cautious about what collateral they themselves accept.

Valerie Grant shares her suburban house with her 11-year-old daughter and 74-year-old mother. With three generations of women living together, she knew one master bedroom suite would not be enough.”Three strong girls, and they each need their space,” said Grant, 47.

So when she had her 5,400-square-foot house built, she didn’t ask for just one master bedroom suite (a sleeping area, bathroom and closet). And she didn’t ask for two — or three, for that matter. No, she asked the architects for four, so there would be space for a guest.