The Federal Reserve should be announcing its interest rate decision later today, and stocks are heading higher on the assumption that the Fed is likely to keep interest rates near 0%, as well as the expectation that the Fed will keep stimulus help coming in. Indeed, what Ben Bernanke says about economic policy going forward is more likely to influence the stock market than just about anything else today, and expectations that he will play up the fact that we’re only at the beginning of the recovery, and that there will be a continued need for economic stimulus for some …read more

Many people are finding that they are having difficulty right now making payments. Credit card debt has gotten a bit out of control, and people are waking up to the realities of their financial situations, so it is little surprise that many are trying to get out of debt. Unfortunately, interest rates and piled on fees can make this a daunting task. The good news is that there are hardship programs available that can help you repay your debt.
I received an email from A New Horizon, a credit counseling and debt solutions company, pointing out that some credit card issuers …read more

Earlier this year, the Credit CARD Act of 2009 was signed into law. While many of the “cardholders’ bill of rights” provisions in the law do not take effect until February 2010, there are two that actually take effect later this week:

Credit card statements must be mailed 21 days before the bill is due (instead of the current 14 days).
APR changes must be given to the customer 45 days in advance.

As you might guess, a rash of increased credit card fees and rising interest rates has been seen as issuers scramble to make sure they can get what they can.
The …read more

What will happen to interest rates as the economy recovers?

Credit card reforms may actually result in ugliness for the rest of us from now until they take effect.

I didn’t think of it much when, the other day at Kohl’s, I was asked if I wanted to save 15% on my purchase. It happens so regularly. But I read a post from Bible Money Matters today about the increasing aggressiveness of department store credit card sales attempts, and I started replaying that conversation in my head:
“Would you like to 15% today?”
“Uh, no thanks.”
“It’s 15%!”
“Thanks, that’s okay.”
It was pretty apparent that she was trying. Normally I only have to say “no” once. At any rate, I didn’t bite. Save 15% on an order of $30? That’s $4.50. Besides, I’m …read more

Upon further inquiry a couple days ago (just making sure the payment went through this time), I discovered that this one indiscretion resulted in a default rate of 27.99%. My regular rate on this card is 9.9%. I was furious.

With the Fed rate effectively at 0%, direct interest rate intervention is not practical. So the Federal Reserve has turned to quantitative easing, buying mortgage-backed securities and agency debt.

My current concern is whether or not to refinance.