The unusually low interest rates of the last three years have been an enormous boon to almost every corner of the American economy.
They have provided consumers with dirt-cheap mortgages that fed the real estate boom. They have supplied easy credit to companies and investment firms, propelling stocks and corporate profits to record highs and fueling a buyout binge.
Now that party may be coming to an end.
Yields on the 10-year Treasury note — a benchmark that influences many long-term interest rates, including home mortgages — jumped sharply on Tuesday and are up significantly in the last month. The fallout is likely to be widespread, and felt most immediately by homeowners and people looking to buy a house.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/15/business/15bond.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin