The Federal Reserve is testing a new bond-trading program that is working so well, some influential people think it could lead the central bank to ditch its current policy lever — its federal funds rate target — in favor of this new program. More specifically, instead of telling the New York Fed to target a certain fed funds rate, as it does now, the Fed would set a certain interest rate on this new reverse repo facility, and that rate would become the new benchmark for global credit markets, influencing rates throughout the financial system.