The Federal Reserve is scheduled to vote on new credit card rules tomorrow, Dec. 18.

A couple of days ago, I left a comment over at Bible Money Matters on a post about car shopping:
Our car is showing signs of sickness after seven years. We’re thinking we may need to get another one (we’ll buy it used, though — we like lease returns). But we’re crossing our fingers that it won’t come to that.
Sean at Financial Ramblings saw that and emailed me and asked for my thoughts on possible car shopping. I thought I’d write about lease returns, and why my husband and I prefer them.
Why I like lease returns
The first (and only, so far) …read more

Today, the Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut the Fed Funds rate. Because the economy seems to be heading toward recession, the overriding goal is to stimulate the economy. And this means — as far as the Fed is concerned — making it cheaper for everyone to borrow money.
Because our economy runs on consumption fueled by debt, a Fed rate cut is expected to help stimulate the economy be stimulating more borrowing. Here’s one example of how it’s supposed to work for you and the economy:

The Fed cuts its rate, which influences consumer loans (including credit cards). This happens …read more

The big financial news this morning is that the Fed has cut rates to 1.5%. This is part of a global effort to cut rates by 50 basis points, made by central banks in several other countries. The plan is to try and free up the credit markets and get cash moving around the world.
For those of you struggling with credit card debt, you have a great opportunity.
With interest rates dropping, your credit card interest rate is likely to drop as well. This means that more of your payment will go to the principal. It’s the perfect time to aggressively …read more

Yesterday saw an emergency Fed rate cut meant to help the economy. Whether it kicks start the economy or not, there are plenty of people who will see impacts in their personal finances from this move. Yahoo! Finance describes some of the areas that will benefit from yesterday’s Fed rate cut:
After the Fed’s rate cut Tuesday, banks quickly cut their prime rate — the rate they charge their best customers — to 6.5 percent. The prime rate also serves as a benchmark for credit cards and home equity loans, and those borrowers will benefit from lower rates.
Others to benefit include …read more

The Fed is scrambling to figure out what to do in order to slow (maybe try to prevent) the coming recession. Some would argue that, really, it’s already here. At any rate, the Fed cut a key interest rate yesterday. Because Wall Street was really hoping for a bigger bailout (25 basis points just wasn’t enough), stocks had issues.
And, in an effort to ward off criticism that the Fed is more concerned with inflation than it is with the credit crisis, the Fed unveiled a plan this morning to inject cash liquidity into the financial markets.
But the bottom line is …read more

Yet another Fed rate cut is expected tomorrow. While some think that 50 basis points will be the magic number, others feel that 25 points is much more likely. But in either case, the continued efforts to save the economy with a Fed rate cut will likely affect you, whether it is an influence on mortgage rates, forex trading or the stock market. First Business reports on the Fed rate cut:

There are many ways that Wednesday’s Fed rate cut could affect your personal finances. But when it comes to yielding wealth, in the long term, the Fed rate cut may not be terribly helpful. After all, in the long term, most rates, like mortgages are more affected by the rate on the 10-year Treasury note.
Consider this (especially in light of retirement planning): A Fed rate cut can pave the way to higher inflation. While September’s rate cut was meant to get the economy under control, and maybe provide a boost to the housing market, some analysts are afraid that …read more

Yesterday’s big news was the Fed rate cut. The practical optimists were thinking that a cut of about 25 basis points would be in order. The Fed rate cut satisfied all but the most gung-ho of bulls with a 50 basis point cut. So, how will this Fed rate cut affect the markets? And more importantly, how will it affect you?
Fed rate cut and the stock market
Yesterday saw the single biggest gain by the Dow in close on five years. Stocks are going ballistic right now, with investors thrilled by the Fed rate cut. Why? Because now money costs less. …read more

Many in the mortgage industry, and even some in the stock market, are putting a lot of faith in tomorrow’s expected Fed rate cut. The hope is that, as happened in 1998, the stock market and the U.S. economy with it, will bounce back from the edge of despair. However, the Wall Street Journal points out that this may not be the case:
“The bounce-back in the financial markets is probably going to be smaller than it was in 1998,” when the Dow Jones industrials surged 20% from its close on Oct. 1 through the end of the year, says Jan …read more