Today the Federal Reserve announced another round of Treasury bond buying to stimulate the economy…to the tune of $600 billion. Bernanke and company have telegraphed this move for weeks. So much so the financial news networks have coined the term “QE2″ a moniker once relegated to referring to a British ocean liner now stands for [...]

The Federal Open Market Committee or the FOMC left rates unchanged today signaling they don’t fear inflation and this sent an already climbing stock market soaring. The Dow was up about 95 points when FOMC made the announcement and within the hour the Dow rocketed to up over 170 points. It was, of course, financial [...]

Today the Federal Reserve announced it will continue it’s purchases of Fannie / Freddie mortgage-backed securities in an attempt to keep mortgage rates low. The Fed will add $750 Billion in GSE commitments on top of the $500 Billion it’s already put on the table. GSE Securities Owned By Fed Reaches $1.25 Trillion It looks [...]

FOMC announced today it will leave the benchmark interest rate as it is …between 0 - 0.25 percent. However they mention a disturbing willingness to “support” the Treasury market through direct purchases of long-term securities. Boy, I bet Pimco’s Bill Gross, loved hearing that! FOMC: No Change on Benchmark Interest Rate The FOMC after deciding [...]

Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, spoke just minutes ago to a UC Berkley conference on the mortgage market challenges moving forward from the current crisis. Ben did a great job outlining the gestation of the crisis by outlining the difference in public versus private securitization. GSE securitization of mortgages is what he called “public” in [...]

An AIG bailout package was announce late Tuesday night by the Federal Reserve rescuing the company by pledging a loan of $85 Billion. AIG needed a bailout due to mortgage related losses and an inability to raise capital fast enough. AIG Bailout American International Group - AIG - gets the liquidity they need to cover [...]

No Fed rate cut announced today leaving traders to scratch their heads in disbelief. A Fed rate cut was overwhelmingly expected by the Street due to the liquidity crisis in the last few days with AIG and Lehman Brothers creating a demand for dollars. Fed Rate Cut Did Not Materialized The Fed decided to keep [...]

A Black Monday scenario for the US stock markets is unlikely due to quick action by the Federal Reserve to add liquidity with rule changes and the creation of a 10 bank cooperative that put $70 Billion into an emergency fund. Black Monday Averted Six Reasons Today Will Not Be Another Black Monday on Wall [...]

Merrill Lynch announced it accepted an offer of $29 a share from Bank of America becoming the most recent conquest in a growing line of Federal Reserve member commercial banks gobbling up investment banks. Merrill Lynch is the second investment bank sold to a mega-bank rival after Bear Stearns succumbed six months ago to JPMorgan [...]