Fed Cuts Rates by Half Point

Wall Street Journal ^

[Sub-Driver]

Fed Cuts Rates by Half Point By BRIAN BLACKSTONE and HENRY J. PULIZZI January 30, 2008 2:18 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve on Wednesday lowered its key lending rate by one-half percentage point, capping an unprecedented eight-day period in which officials slashed rates massively to ward off recession risks.

[WakeUpAndVote]

Time to re-finance?

[Bobkk47]

Have to watch “Mad Money” tonite. Cramer will be pleased.

[CholeraJoe]

Nyet, comrade.

[Abathar]

Free money!! Wheeeeeeeeee!!!!!

[BGHater]

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Why not just run the printing presses?

The result would be the same.

[Notary Sojac]

What happens when the Fed cuts to 0.0%, and there STILL aren’t any bonuses for the hedge managers??

[trumandogz]

Ben Bernanke is a damn fool.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Because 3% is free? LOL!

[AbeKrieger]

Geez, my rates suddenly all look “subprime”.

[Abathar]

Hey, you must never have lived through the Carter years trying to finance heavy machinery, to us that did we call this FREEEEE!

[jwparkerjr]

Bite your tongue! Running the printing press wouldn’t reduce my ARM. I like it when they do this.

We don’t have one of those break the bank ARMS and we got ours when the rates were at their previous bottom.

This will help us a lot.

[papasmurf]

Cheap money, actually banks made money on borrowing, is what got us here, in large part.

[BGHater]

Not hard to guess the time of the Cut.

[Abathar]

Market is going up fast now, going to be interesting to watch what it does later.

[RDTF]

wow

[Clemenza]

Break out the polyester and your eight track of “Frampton Comes Alive!” BRING ON THE INFLATION!!!

[WakeUpAndVote]

Why not?

[djf]

[Irish Eyes]

That is impressive !

[RightWhale]

What is the rate now? 3.25? Still inside the power range. No problem as yet.

[SkyPilot]

This is going to make the European markets to go ape crazy.

The value of the Euro is now so high against US, Japanese, and Chinese currencies that European manufacturers are losing Billions in trade.

They have been pounding on the doors of the European banks to slash their own interest rates - and crickets have been the response.

Meanwhile, European lending institutions and markets have been shattered by the US Subprime mess.

[keepitreal]

Time to buy some new trucks for the business!

[Tijeras_Slim]

“Frampton Comes Alive!”

He came through here on the Indian Casino circuit a couple months back.... almost entirely bald now. ;)

[getsoutalive]

Because 3% is free? LOL!

It is when the inflation rate is over 4%.

[Hazwaste]

I think we’re already there. Between gasoline prices and the effect of ethanol on the price of food, we’re getting beaten like a drum.

[Clemenza]

DEEWWW YOU DO!

Yes, but he had gone bald with dignity and now does Auto Insurance commercials.

[traumer]

Kiss the US$ good bye....

[CholeraJoe]

Short term money rates like the funds rate and discount rate don’t have much impact on mortgage rates. Credit card rates and unsecured lines of credit may be tied to these rates, but little else is.

If your credit is acceptable, you can get a 15 year fixed mortgage for about 5.25% now.

[Moonman62]

Ben Bernanke is a damn fool.

He should never have inverted the yield curve, and he should have started lowering rates a lot sooner.

[biff]

You damn right he is a fool. No only does big corps. run our politicians but Wall Street runs the money policy of this country. Woe be to us when the piper wants to get paid we will have to pay up with toliet paper.

[twigs]

Me too. We’re planning to buy a house next month.

[Moonman62]

Short term money rates like the funds rate and discount rate don’t have much impact on mortgage rates.

They affect adjustable rate mortgages.

[secret garden]

When I saw him on the GEICO commercial, I knew it was over.

[.cnI redruM]

They’ll plant annuals instead.

[Moonman62]

You damn right he is a fool. No only does big corps. run our politicians but Wall Street runs the money policy of this country.

Move to Cuba or North Korea. You'll be happier there.

[Toddsterpatriot]

You should get right on that then.

[djf]

It’ll pump up the market for three or four days max... by next week, Cramer will be screamin that we’re all being strangled and there’s a liquidity crunch..

They can lower rates all they want - people and corporations are pretty much tapped out creditwise.

[dinoparty]

What was the lowest it got post-9/11 ??

[green iguana]

The tail is wagging the dog...

The Fed got no cred!

[Toddsterpatriot]

Kiss the US$ good bye....

I thought 1% on the Fed Funds rate years ago would already have killed it. Why is 3% suddenly fatal?

[janetjanet998]

i think it got down to ONE percent..which was one of the reasons for the housing bubble...

[WakeUpAndVote]

Thanks, that now make sense to me.

[tlj18]

The Euro today:

[RDTF]

good for you! Most of the people I know are like me and can’t sell what they already have because the values dropped so low, so they can’t even take advantage of this.

[twigs]

We’re buying before we sell. And we’re scared to death about it too! Our house has dropped in value, too, but not terribly. And if the banks accept our bid, we’re buying a house about to go into foreclosure, so we can’t wait.

[biff]

Hey buddy, why the hell don’t you move there since you have such faith in their systems.

You don’t know what you are talking about.

[tlj18]

Well, in nine days it went from 4.5% to 3%, with further cuts apparently to follow. It's no secret that the dollar is in big trouble these days. One of the bad things about be stationed in Europe is that I get paid in dollars. I would say us soldiers are more aware of the collapsing dollar than many Americans are. At least we get to buy gas on base at currently $3.18 a gallon. Off base, it's about $8.50 a gallon.

The whole economy is a disaster waiting to happen. First of all, our money is little more than paper. And second of all, the whole system is based on debt. Enormous amounts of debt. The economy doesn't exist without debt - period. There is way more money in the economy than actually exists. But then again, did the money ever really exist to begin with? Not really, not in my lifetime.

If there is a true lengthy regional disaster in the US (say, a massive mag 9+ earthquake on the Pacific coast), the game may be over.

[Carlucci]

“When I saw him on the GEICO commercial, I knew it was over.”

Yeah, but you still got to respect him for this:

“After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Frampton decided to become a United States citizen”

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Frampton