Interest Rates

Federal Reserve Leaves Fed Funds Rate Unchanged

Michael Santo — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:06:24 -0600

As expected, the Federal Reserve kept its benchmark federal funds rate unchanged. While it said the economy had "continued to pick up" since its last policy-setting meeting in September, the Fed maintained the rate in a range of zero to 0.25 percent.

Australian Banks Say Lending Costs To Remain High

Armen Hareyan — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:01:21 -0500

The cost of funding and lending may remain high for a while say Australian Banks. The story published in today's The Age reports that the elevation of the banking funding costs may well go through next year.

Australian Interest Rates On Hold, But To Rise

Armen Hareyan — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:34:38 -0500

The federal treasurer of Australia Wayne Swan says that the interest rates are currently on hold, which is great for home buyers. However, he said that the key benchmark rates will not stay low for a long time and will rise.

Fed Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged

Armen Hareyan — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:38:07 -0500

Fed keeps interest rates unchanged at historic lows and signals economy is starting to stabilize.

The Recession is Over? Really?

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:41:08 -0500

The recession is over? No way! Well, technically it is over, but it will still be rough for a while.

Observers Say Mortgage Rates Manipulated In UK

Armen Hareyan — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:27:54 -0500

On July 9 Bank of England decided to maintain the the current interest rates at .05 level, but the borrowers are paying mortgage rates that are hovering around 8 percent. Now the British banks are accused of "mortgage rip-off" as the current rates are too high compared with the Bank of England interest rates.

Fed Holds Steady As Economic Data Remains Weak

Armen Hareyan — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:52:02 -0500

Yesterday's Fed meeting yielded no surprises. The Fed said it would keep interest rates near zero "for an extended period" and would proceed with its previously announced plans to buy up to $300 billion in long-term US Treasuries by autumn and up to $1.25 trillion in MBS. Meanwhile, over the pond, the ECB injected an unprecedented $622 billion in one-year liquidity to boost its sagging economy.

Volatile Treasury Yields Create Apprehension for Investors

Charles Sherry — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:05:07 -0500

The yield on the ten-Treasury was sitting at nearly 2% at the start of the year as investors feared further declines in economic activity and fretted about the stability of the financial system. Fast-forward to June and the yield on the benchmark Treasury sits just south of 4%.

Obama promises protection for credit-card users

Armen Hareyan — Fri, 22 May 2009 08:13:45 -0500

US President Barack Obama is resolute in getting a credit-card law out soon. The law among other things would prohibit hidden fee increases and delayed fee charges that contribute to consumer. Obama has therefore called on credit card companies that are willing to act responsibly to cooperate with his administration in this matter. President Obama made his intentions known when he met with CEOs of leading credit-card companies on Friday 21st of May.

Bank of England Keeps Interest Rate at 0.5%

Armen Hareyan — Thu, 07 May 2009 08:07:07 -0500

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee today voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%. The Committee also voted to continue with its programme of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves and to increase its size by £50 billion to a total of £125 billion.

European Central Bank Cuts Interest Rates To 1%

Armen Hareyan — Thu, 07 May 2009 07:07:59 -0500

In today's monetary policy meeting the European Central Bank cut the benchmark interest rates lowering it to 1 percent. Analysts were thinking that ECB will cut the interest rates somewhere in the range of .25 to .50 bases points. EU Central Bank decided to cut the interest rates by a quarter percentage point to help to improve the continental Europe's recession.

Mortgage Rates, Opportunity "Locks"

allreverse — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:11:55 -0500

Ads about Mortgage Rates are everywhere. You cannot go onto your computer without seeing ads from several different lenders and the television is full of ads touting their mortgage rates or the fact that rates are way down.