Fed Rate Cut: What It Means for You
How the Fed's latest rate cut impacts credit cards, mortgages and student loans.
Jan. 30, 2008— -- The Federal Reserve continued its policy of slashing interest rates in hopes of fending off a recession, cutting a key rate this afternoon by another half a percentage point.
The key Federal Funds interest rate now stands at 3 percent. It has not been this low since June of 2005.
Just a few months ago, the Federal Funds rate was 5.25 percent. This is the fifth rate cut since August when the Fed started slashing interest rates to stimulate the economy.
Just last week, the Fed held an emergency meeting and cut the rate three-quarters of a percentage point. It was the largest single downward move by the Fed since August 1982.
"Financial markets remain under considerable stress, and credit has tightened further for some businesses and households," the Fed said in a statement. "Moreover, recent information indicates a deepening of the housing contraction as well as some softening in labor markets."
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The stock market responded very positively initially. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down about 30 to 40 points for most of the morning but shot up to 60 points above yesterday's close in the minutes following the 2:15 announcement. Within 10 minutes of the announcement, the Dow was up 120 points. But in the final few minutes of trading stocks fell, with the Dow closing down 40 points.
Nine members of the Federal Open Market Committee voted for the rate cut, including Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. The only vote against came from Richard W. Fisher, who preferred no change.
The move by the Fed came a few hours after the Commerce Department released new data showing just how much the economy has slowed.
In the last three months of 2007, the overall economy, measured by the gross domestic product, grew at a rate of just 0.6 percent. For all of 2007, the economy grew by just 2.2 percent, the weakest performance in five years, when the country was struggling to recover from the 2001 recession.
The numbers show that the economy is clearly slowing but that there was still growth, no matter how small.
Investors want lower rates because cheaper loans mean more borrowing and spending by consumers and businesses. With lower rates, businesses find it easier to expand.
So what about consumers?
Most people's short-term loans, such as credit card debt, are tied to the prime rate, which is generally three percentage points higher than the Federal Funds rate.
Longer-term, fixed-rate loans such as mortgages and college student loans are tied to Treasury bonds, which are not directly affected by the Fed's decision. So don't expect any immediate relief. However, Treasury bonds typically take on some of the Federal Funds rate momentum and are likely to move down after this afternoon's cut.
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