Quote from silk:
I can see the fed cutting rates by 1/4 point next week. The secondary mortgage market is in collapse and interest rates for nonconforming mortgages has moved up. Two tiers of the mortgage market are currently hardly functioning.
INotice the dollar has stopped falling. Perhaps an intervention is in play to not let dollar crash heading into and then after a surprise cut.
It could happen. We're a big failure story away from a serious credit market event - and it may not even be a US story. Here is an example of a catastrophic policy blunder, which IMO, the last 3 of the 17 hikes were - for real estate anyway.
2000
Jan. 14 - Dow hits new high of 11722.98
Feb. 2 - FOMC raises rates by 0.25% - fourth such rise since 06/99.
Feb. 11 - Dow falls 218 to 10425 - correction - 11% below 2000 high.
Feb. 18 - Dow falls 295 to 10219 - correction - 11% below start of 2000.
Feb. 25 - Dow falls 230 to 9862 - first close below 10000 since 4/1/99
March 7 - Dow falls 374 to 9796 - below Feb. 25 close.
March 16 - Biggest 1 day Dow rise ever - up 499 to 10630.
March 21 - FOMC raises Fed Funds and Discount rates by 0.25%
April 4 - Dow down 496.47 intra-day. Closes down 47
April 14 - Dow down 616 - biggest one day points fall in history
May 16 - FOMC raises Fed Funds and Discount rates by 0.50%
June 28 - FOMC stands pat on interest rates.
August 11 - Bank of Japan raises rates for the first time in more than 10 years.
August 22 - FOMC stands pat on interest rates again.
Sept. 6 - $US Index hits highest level since April 1986
Sept. 22 - Joint ECB,FED,BOJ intervention to prop up the Euro
Oct. 5 - ECB raises rates by 0.25%
Nov. 7 - ? - U.S. election indecisive - no President elect
Nov. 15 - FOMC stands pat - still no "neutral bias"
Dec. 1 - U.S. election goes to Supreme Court - still no winner
Dec. 13 - George W Bush declared President Elect
Dec. 19 - FOMC stands pat - announces end to "inflationary bias"
You can read the minutes where they realize they fked up. So, here's what they did (any of you boys have a futs position on on 1/3? :eek:

):
2001
Jan. 3 - Fed cuts Fed Funds (-0.50%) and Discount (-0.25%) rates between FOMC meetings - Dow up 299
Jan. 4 - Fed cuts Discount rate AGAIN - down 0.25%.
Jan. 5 - Dow down 250 - ends week down despite rate cuts.
Jan. 31 - FOMC lowers Fed Funds and Discount rates by 0.50%