Gov't panicking?? Fed cuts interest rates .75

[sweeps]

Fed cuts interest rates 75 basis points

[BTC]

It will be interesting to see what happens to the markets today. When I went to bed last night, which was prior to the rate cut, futures were indicating a selloff of about 600 points in the Dow today.

[jIM_Ohio]

I think the DOW is less of a concern than the housing market itself. The Fed knows if it keeps rates low, ARMs will reset lower and keep the housing market afloat for another 2-3 months.

We are basically staving off a huge depression here... as rates can't get much lower, and the housing market is probably still 75% overvalued (meaning we have only seen the worst 25%, it still needs to flush out the other bad 75%).

If rates get low enough, maybe I can refinance my 30 year fixed at under 4%.

[jeffrey]

It's going to be an interesting ride today...

[jeffrey]

300+ point plunge in the first 10 minutes isn't a good sign

.DJI - DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX - Google Finance (live data)

[sweeps]

The U.S. stock market has recovered quite a bit. The Dow is down only about 90 points right now.

[poundwise]

Seems like the move had the desired effect. At least, at this point in the day. link

[atomicrc11]

Boy am I glad I bought 2 $500 CD's at 4.75APY in last two months. I don't know if this is going to help in the long term, but it will at least let people keep their houses a little longer.

[Scanner]

Buy some silver/gold people (or another commodity).

Bernacke can "patch" the markets with a rate cut but the liquidity problem can't be solved with a rate cut. The only thing Bernacke can do and he said he would to solve liquidity is "Print more American dollars and drop them from a helicopter if I have to."

The Phillipines are no longer accepting the American dollar as a legitmate currency.

Think about that for a second.

[humandraydel]

The only thing Bernacke can do and he said he would to solve liquidity is "Print more American dollars and drop them from a helicopter if I have to."

The Phillipines are no longer accepting the American dollar as a legitmate currency.

Sources?

[Mikeee]

November 1995 - Federal Reserve System has 12 regional banks, 7 governors (one is chairman). President and congress pick them. The governors get 14 year term, chairman 4 years.
Discount rate is rate of interest charged to member banks when they borrow money from the Fed.

Jan. 2008 - The Fed lowered its federal funds rate, which impacts how much consumers pay on credit card debt, home equity lines of credit and auto loans, from 4.25 percent to 3.5 percent. The Fed also lowered its discount rate, which is what it costs banks to borrow directly from the central bank

But this impact will be SLOW.

[Mikeee]

We will not have a deflation near term. The government started hiding the M2 supply last year. So they are churning out the $ Look in your wallet at the design changes as well.