Fed raises key interest rate 0.25% to 5%...hints it's not finished yet.

[Roland99]

CNN reporting.

[merbex]

1. Good luck to anyone with an adjustable rate mortgage

Foreclosures are already up 120% over last year in my county

[Roland99]

2. Updates (articles)

http://money.cnn.com

Fed raises key interest rate 1/4 point to 5%, but says some further firming may yet be needed. Stocks little changed. More soon.

FOMC raises rates; next move uncertain
Further rate hikes may yet be needed
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BF6B17D59%2D76EC%2D4E34%2DB8B7%2D92B9DE33694E%7D&siteid=mktw&dist=

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point to 5% on Wednesday and left the market in the dark about what it would do next.

After an unprecedented 16 straight rate hikes, the Fed's statement leaves open the possibility that the Federal Open Market would hold interest rates at 5% for quite a while. Or the Fed could decide further rate hikes are needed to cool the economy and to keep inflation in check.

Some economists expect the Fed funds rate to hit 5.5% by year-end before the Fed is finished. Others say the Fed is now done.

"The committee judges that some further policy firming may yet be needed to address inflation risks but emphasizes that the extent and timing of any such firming will depend importantly on the evolution of the economic outlook as implied by incoming information," the statement said.

[MADem]

3. Whip Inflation NOW!!!

Worked real well for the Ford-Dole ticket.

But he did make a valid point:

"Our inflation, our public enemy number one, will, unless whipped, destroy
our country, our homes, our liberties, our property and finally our national
pride as surely as will an well-armed wartime enemy."
Gerald Ford
Source: http://www.allhatnocattle.net/gerald_r_ford.htm

[MadHound]

4. Of course it's not over yet

What with inflation rising, and a national debt approaching 9 trillion, the Fed is forced to continue to raise interest rates. Sadly though, I think that it is going to be a futile effort, and that our economy is due for a serious tumble. Worse yet, what with the Enron accounting going on with the government numbers, and the pulling of the M3 figures, I think that we're being set up for a huge fall, one that's going to make the Great Depression look like the Roaring Twenties in comparison. After all, to the rich and well off, depression and recession are just different words for Buying Opportunity.

We've built this house of cards too high and then proceeded to pull out almost all of the props out from underneath it. The last real support our economy has is housing, and that is starting to deflate as we speak.