Personal Finance Blog By MoneyRates - Bank Rates
Bank Rates Look Better As Stock Market Stumbles
July 5, 2010
The stock market's troubles aren't going to add anything to bank rates. Just the opposite in fact -- the same economic issues that have upset stocks could spell several more months of low rates for savings accounts, money market accounts, CDs, etc. Still there's nothing like the shock of some market setbacks to put the [...]
Is Fed Policy Backfiring?
June 30, 2010
As expected, the Federal Reserve announced last week that would leave its key interest rate unchanged, at a level just above zero. What was unexpected was a pledge to continue this low rate policy for "an extended period of time." The context behind that pledge is the worsening economic picture -- a double-dip recession now seems [...]
Is Passage of Banking Reform a Slam Dunk?
June 28, 2010
It's been a long time coming. Following exhaustive debate, proposed banking legislation has been finalized and is expected to be put to a vote this week. Coverage of the outcome of the conference committee process, which is the legislative procedure for reconciling differences between House and Senate versions of the same bill, has focused on the details [...]
Agreement on the Banking Bill: What It Means to You
June 25, 2010
The Congressional conference committee reached agreement early today on the final version of the banking reform bill that will go before the House and Senate for a vote next week. While that should be just a formality, keep in mind that the conference committee process has been contentious enough (with committee approval passing along party [...]
Bank Rates Have Little to Hope For From Fed Meeting
June 23, 2010
No organization gets more attention for doing nothing than the Fed. The fact that the Federal Reserve concludes a two-day meeting today has been widely reported -- as has the fact that the Fed is expected to leave its bank lending rate near zero. Not only is the Fed expected to do nothing today, but speculation centers [...]
Bank Rates to Rise in 2011, Bank Economists Predict
June 22, 2010
Bank economists say we're on the path to a solid recovery, a double-dip recession is highly unlikely, and they expect the Fed will start raising interest rates next year. The prediction about rising interest rates was unanimous among the dozen members of the American Bankers Association Economic Advisory Committee, which recently released its views on [...]
Banking Reform Now Aims to Extend Deposit Insurance
June 21, 2010
As banking reform legislation goes through the conference committee process designed to reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill, it increasingly appears there is more going on than just reconciliation -- new twists are being added. A significant example last week was the decision to add changes in FDIC deposit insurance to [...]
Is the Pendulum Swinging Back to Optimism?
June 16, 2010
The stock market had a big day yesterday, and has been generally trending upward for the past week. This relates to bank rates because optimism in the market often translates into higher interest rates. Indeed, bond yields have moved upward lately. So is this the movement bank depositors have been waiting for? Don't count on it. [...]
Bank Rates Need More Than Wishful Thinking to Rise
June 14, 2010
Consumer confidence rose last week, even as figures were released showing that retail sales fell during May. For bank rates -- and the economy -- that's not an even trade-off. Money market rates, savings account rates, and CD rates remained pretty much unchanged, probably because they don't have much further to fall. Bank rates need tangible [...]
Illusion vs. Reality in the Employment Market
June 9, 2010
This blog has consistently maintained that employment is a key indicator of the future direction of bank rates. Savings account rates, money market rates, and CD rates are likely to make little upward progress until stronger employment numbers indicate that the economic recovery is taking hold, and becoming self-sustaining. The difficulty, sometimes, is telling illusion from [...]
