By Riley Evans on 28-02-2012
Vittorio Hernandez – AHN News
Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The U.S. Federal Reserve would likely keep the record-low interest rates, Treasury markets indicate.
According to a Federal Bank of Cleveland study, the U.S. economy is forecast to grow by only 1.1 percent in the 12 months ending June 2012. That rate is less than half of the central bank’s current forecast and would likely result in delaying any key lending rate increase.
The Fed has held benchmark interest rates from zero to 25 basis points since December 2008.
Given the slower growth of the American economy, analysts said that the Fed is not likely to hike interest rate until June next year. That would make it the longest period that the central bank has held on to a low key lending rate since the 1940s when the Fed was forced to buy Treasuries.
From 1937 through 1947, the Fed kept its rediscount rate at 1 percent. It wa
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By Seth De Rougemont on 26-02-2012
Ohio’s health insurance exchanges are banned from providing any type of abortion coverage, according to the Reuters article, “Ohio bans abortion funding in insurance exchanges,” by Mary Wisniewski. Under President Obama’s healthcare reform, states must create health insurance exchanges for easy health care shopping by 2014. Governor John Kasich of Ohio, a Republican, signed the ban of any abortion coverage in their health insurance exchange. This ban will be in place regardless of whether the citizen plans to pay for their abortion with their own money; health insurance will not cover any of the procedure.
There is definitely outrage from pro-choice and other groups like the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU said that it would sue the state if this became a law, so that may be coming soon. NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio’s executive director argues that this law violates Ohio’s Constitution. Read more…
By Kiara Withers on 24-02-2012
Never known for being easy, the euro and yen seem particularly difficult to understand presently. During such times it is often best to return to basics. Foreign exchange reflects the cost of money. So do interest rates. The relationship between the two is not always clear and stable. Recently there have been some shifts in those relationships that market participants should be aware of.
Turning to the euro first, we note that yesterday the US-German 2-year differential poked through the 10 bp level. The US 2-year yield moved above Germany’s in mid-December 2011 and has remained generally remained above there this year except for a brief exception in early Feb. The US premium yesterday was the high for 2012 and even now at 8 bp it is about 2x the 20 day moving average.
Yet the euro has trended higher. Read more…
By Kiara Withers on 22-02-2012
The Savings account interest rate at Apple Bank for Savings has just changed from 1.05% APY to 0.9% APY with a minimum of $10,000 required. See the full details and rate info at Apple Bank for Savings Money Market/Savings $1000 rate. Apple Advantage Savings Must have a Grand Yield Advantage NOW Checking account and meet requirements. New money required.
By Seth De Rougemont on 21-02-2012
According to press reports Credit Suisse, Basler Kantonalbank, Julius Baer, HSBC Switzerland and seven other Swiss banks are poised to turnover data related to U.S. persons suspected of tax evasion or Foreign Bank Account Reporting (FBAR) violations. The story was published on December 18th in SonntagsZeitung, a Swiss newspaper. Supposedly the banks had until Dec. 20th to accept the offer, and that three of the banks have been given until Dec. 31st to turn over the information. Those Swiss banks who accept the deal would be assured immunity from criminal prosecution, and would pay a fine. According to “one insider” the banks are unlikely to turn down the deal.
Since there has been no confirmation from either the Swiss banks or the IRS it is unclear whether the story is true. The deadlines don’t seem realistic, however.
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By Riley Evans on 18-02-2012
Oh what a pleasant surprise. For much of the past two years, the monthly jobs report, released the first Friday of every month, has been very effective at casting a dour pall over the upcoming weekend. But not this time.
Don’t get too excited. It’s not like we’re seeing actual job growth, and until we do, consumers will remain hesitant to resume the more typical pattern — and American pastime — of spending themselves silly. But the 11,000 job losses for November barely registered on the Richter scale, and previous estimates for September and October were revised lower in a mighty fashion. Surprised?
While much better than forecast, it doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods. In fact, Mortgage Bankers Association Chief Economist Jay Brinkmann forecast these large revisions during a presentation back in October.
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