Maybe I can see if I can get a lower rate on a 30 year fixed mortgage. That might be nice...

Unless of course, you have a credit card hovering at 30%, in which case, your rate will increase.

uh, and it will drive up the price of crude. hurray inflation! thanks fed.

I don't think anyone's swinging any mortgages at 2% and change, much less 3%.

@ohiomensch: Yep--no breaks for credit card holders...this may in fact cause more of them to jack up rates.

More inflation for food and oil. Smart move Fed, you are brining this country to a standstill.

Well, cheaper for the banks, who as of yet have to pass on any of the savings to consumers. But hey, bankers have had a rough year, so it's okay!

lower interest rates is lower savings rates = i lose money. also it devalues the dollar which makes the price of oil go up.

@CRNewsom: 30 year mortgage rates are tied to the 10 year treasury bonds, not the federal overnight lending rate.

Despite what happens, I expect loan percentages to increase.

@catnapped: OK, you read my mind.

@laserjobs: Yeah, that's another argument.

why should banks lower their rates to you when they can pocket the difference? stupid customer!

also note that many big banks are scrambling to raise cash because so many are close to the edge of their reserve requirements. if anything consumer loan rates will jsut keep going up along with bigger and more fees.

so, smart people like me who save their money get screwed with nonexistent interest rates on their savings and whatnot, and stupid people who borrow way more than they can afford get a lower interest rate.

I call bullshit.

We refinanced right after the last slashing of the rates but they started back up almost immediately. The deal is, as my mortgage guy explained it, if that since the main cause of the lowering rates is the mortgage industry they are raising the rates as fast as possible after a lowering so they can recoup as much money as possible.

@tape: Don't be bitter. It's the world we live in.

DAMN IT, STOP CUTTING RATES, ASS HAT!

Seriously, It's very depressing that I used to have a high-yield savings account with 5.5% interest a year ago and now that same account yields 2.5% because we keep bailing out banks and individuals with more debt than common sense.

Grrr.

Is there a bounty on Bernanke's head yet? I'm surprised some cranky old fart hasn't tried to drive their Cadillac or Grand Marquis through the Fed Reserve building in Washington yet over these pathetic interest rates.

The Fed needs to stop acting like the large publicly-held corporations -- focus on the long-term, not quarterly reports, asshats!

Similarly, I fear for the financial future of this country. Even one of the Presidential candidates has had trouble paying their own bills and is currently in the hole by a few mil.

Fiscal stability = security for our country, not billions spent in "anti-terrorism" junk.

@Squeezer99: You hit the nail on the head.