interest rate

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Mortgage Refinancing Rush Continues Into New Year

30-year fixed mortgage rate is lowest on record

(Newser) - Homeowners continue to scramble for refinancing in order to lock in currently low interest rates, MarketWatch reports, with applications jumping 25.6% last week, to the highest level since June 2003. The average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 0.10% for the week ending Jan. 9, to...

30-Year Mortgage Rates Fall to Record Low 5.01%

Fed buys $10.2B in agency mortgage bonds

(Newser) - Interest rates on 30-year fixed mortgages fell to a record low 5.01% this week, Bloomberg reports. The drop—the 10th weekly fall in a row—comes as the Federal Reserve purchased $10.2 billion of mortgage-backed securities from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae as part of a...

Fed Sees Recession Lingering Through '09

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve anticipates the recession will continue through 2009 despite its recent rate slash and other planned “nontraditional policies,” the Wall Street Journal reports. Minutes of the Fed's December 15-16 meeting, at which it cut rates to nearly zero, indicate a deep pessimism about the economy. Officials...

Bank of Japan Follows Fed, Cuts Rates to Near Zero

It drops key interest rate to 0.1%

(Newser) - The Bank of Japan cut interest rates from 0.3% to to 0.1%, within the historic zero- to quarter-percent range that the Fed chose earlier this week. Central bankers were responding to a deep recession as well as a soaring yen, which recently hit a 13-year high against the...

Fed Hangs Recovery Hopes on Nothing
Fed Hangs Recovery Hopes on Nothing
ANALYSIS
Dec 18, 2008 11:42 AM CST

Fed Hangs Recovery Hopes on Nothing

Cutting benchmark rate to zero points up risks of plenty of nothing

(Newser) - Nada. Naught. Zip. Zero, as in the 0% interest the Federal Reserve is asking banks to pay—or, rather, not pay—for short-term loans. What does getting zero back for loaning money mean, wonders Paul Farhi of the Washington Post. "The strategy is to hose down America's sclerotic financial...

Fed Cut Won't Translate Into Much for Consumers ... Yet

Its plans to buy more debt may unfreeze market in '09, but consumer rates stuck for now

(Newser) - Consumers hoping for lower interest rates on credit cards, car loans, and mortgages after the Federal Reserve dropped a key interest rate to near 0% yesterday aren’t likely to get a break soon, reports MarketWatch. But loans could be easier to get once the Fed’s other actions—buying...

Dow Jumps 359 on Rate Cut
 Dow Jumps 359 on Rate Cut 
MARKETS
Dec 16, 2008 3:23 PM CST

Dow Jumps 359 on Rate Cut

Hopes that financials may soon be clear of bad debt also buoys sentiment

(Newser) - Stocks rallied today as investors cheered the Federal Reserve’s sharp federal funds rate cut and other policy measures designed to combat the economic crisis, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow rose 359.61 to close at 8,924.14. The Nasdaq climbed 81.55, closing at 1,589....

Fed Cuts Rate to 0%-0.25%
 Fed Cuts Rate to 0%-0.25% 
Dec 16, 2008 1:40 PM CST

Fed Cuts Rate to 0%-0.25%

Target is record low as Reserve battles recession

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve today cut its target for a key interest rate to the lowest level on record and pledged to use "all available tools" to combat a severe financial crisis and prolonged recession. The central bank says it reduced the federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge...

Record Low Rates Leave Investors Cold

Cut is likely tomorrow, but Wall Street wants more varied approach

(Newser) - Tomorrow the Federal Reserve will probably cut its target interest rate to 0.5%, the lowest in decades. But, the Wall Street Journal reports, investors are unlikely to be cheered by a further slash, instead waiting to hear what further measures Fed chief Ben Bernanke is preparing now that interest...

Dow Falls 427 to Below 8,000
 Dow Falls 427 to Below 8,000 
MARKETS
Nov 19, 2008 3:21 PM CST

Dow Falls 427 to Below 8,000

Bad news in housing and predictions of recession sour stocks

(Newser) - Stocks plunged today on a spread of bad economic news, including signs that the housing market is not improving and dire predictions by the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate committee, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow fell 427.47 to close at 7,997.28. The Nasdaq lost 96.85,...

Crisis Looms for Credit Cards
 Crisis Looms for Credit Cards 
ANALYSIS
Nov 14, 2008 3:10 PM CST

Crisis Looms for Credit Cards

Soaring defaults could fell normally resilient industry

(Newser) - Credit cards may be the next industry to be pummeled by the financial crisis, Time reports. The charge-off rate—money that lenders don't think they'll collect—is set to hit 10% in 2009. That's double the rate of the last decade and amounts to $96 billion in unpaid debt. Typically...

Banks Boost Interest Rates to Lure Deposits

'Price war' increases pressure on profit margins, loan funds

(Newser) - Banks are boosting interest rates on deposits in an effort to increase the supply of cash available for lending, resulting in what one consultant calls a "national price war," the Wall Street Journal reports. Many banks are pinched between the desire to build up deposits and the shrinking...

Think 1% Is Low? He Could Go to Zero

Analysts predict Japan-style cuts in interest rates

(Newser) - Yesterday Ben Bernanke cut the federal funds rate to an ectomorphic 1%—but the Fed might not be done yet. More and more analysts are predicting that the central bank will have to cut rates all the way to zero if it wants to get the economy moving again. But...

Time Is Ripe to Pass Cash to Heirs
Time Is
Ripe to Pass
Cash to Heirs 
Your money
Oct 18, 2008 12:05 PM CDT

Time Is Ripe to Pass Cash to Heirs

Struggling market can help you avoid paying estate tax

(Newser) - Sinking stocks offer a window of opportunity when it comes to passing your money on to heirs without incurring huge taxes, Anne Tergesen writes in the Wall Street Journal. Transferring struggling assets to the next generation can mean a big payoff for the heirs when conditions improve—without the estate...

Dow Off 500; Fed Can't Calm Investors
 Dow Off 500; 
 Fed Can't Calm 
 Investors 
MARKETS
Oct 15, 2008 12:59 PM CDT

Dow Off 500; Fed Can't Calm Investors

Recession fears weigh more heavily amid ugly data

(Newser) - Poor data and continued pessimism over the state of the US economy had the Dow down around 500 points as today’s session entered the final hours, MarketWatch reports, with hints of further interest-rate cuts from Fed chief Ben Bernanke doing nothing to boost confidence. The Dow dipped below the...

Stocks Sink as Bernanke Hints at Rate Cut
Stocks Sink as Bernanke Hints at Rate Cut
MARKETS
Oct 7, 2008 1:28 PM CDT

Stocks Sink as Bernanke Hints at Rate Cut

After early optimistic surge, Dow falls 300 points

(Newser) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned today that the financial crisis has not only darkened the country's current economic performance but also could prolong the pain. The Fed chief's gloomy assessment appeared to hint of an interest rate cut on or before the Fed’s next meeting later this month....

Small Businesses Feel Credit Crunch Trickle Down

High rates, worry about economy keep many from expanding

(Newser) - Small businesses, which employ 40% of the workforce and account for half the nation’s output, are starting to be squeezed by the credit crisis, reports the New York Times. Many find themselves denied credit, offered loans at exorbitant rates, or too worried about the economy to borrow. “Small...

What Killed Bear, Lehman Is What the World Needs
What Killed Bear, Lehman Is What the World Needs
OPINION
Sep 21, 2008 12:44 PM CDT

What Killed Bear, Lehman Is What the World Needs

Subprime loans bring relief to millions worldwide

(Newser) - Sure, subprime loans toppled two pillars of American investment banking, gutted the world’s largest insurer, and plunged the entire US financial system into a tailspin. But they are exactly what the world needs today, Daniel Gross argues in Slate. “Far from the madding, depressed crowds of Wall Street,...

Fed Holds Line on Interest Rates; Markets Bounce

Committee leaves rate at 2%, confounding investors' expectations

(Newser) - In its first unanimous interest rate decision in a year, the Federal Reserve voted today to leave its key interest rate unchanged at 2%. The decision reflects regulators' unwillingness to get even more involved in the developments roiling the financial markets, the Wall Street Journal reports. Stocks fell triple-digits on...

Speculation on New Fed Rate Cut Tempers Losses
Speculation on New Fed
Rate Cut Tempers Losses
MARKETS
Sep 16, 2008 10:44 AM CDT

Speculation on New Fed Rate Cut Tempers Losses

Stocks dip early, then tick closer to even ahead of mid-afternoon announcement

(Newser) - Stocks swung upward after big opening losses today, the Wall Street Journal reports, helped by speculation that the Federal Reserve might step in to help AIG and cut interest rates. The Dow, down 155 early, was just barely negative before noon, with a similar pattern from other indices. “We're...

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