Save Archives

WASHINGTON (TheStreet) — The Federal Reserve's policymaking arm offered no surprises Tuesday as it kept the target fed funds rate unchanged at near zero. Read more»

You could go to jail! Well, OK, that’s not too likely. But with just a month to go to the tax-filing deadline, it’s worth looking at a few items that really get the tax folks’ dander up. Read more»

This isn’t the way that consumer advocates envisioned it, but the U.S. Senate plan for a consumer financial protection agency has the Federal Reserve calling the shots. Historically, the Federal Reserve has been pretty cozy with big banks lately, so consumer advocates are wondering if bank customers will really get a fair shake. Read more»

Bank rates are at the mercy of increasing public debt these days. With a 2010 proposed White House budget that would result in a $1.6 trillion deficit if it passes Congress, the impact for bank rates would be substantial. Read more»

Exchange-traded funds have become enormously popular, and there are now about 900 of them. For many investors, they offer a mutual fund alternative with lower costs, easier trading and better tax efficiency. ETF shopping, then, can boil down to a side-by-side comparison of an ETF and a comparable fund. If performance is the same, costs and other features would probably favor the ETF. Read more»

By Dave Carpenter, AP Personal Finance Writer CHICAGO (AP) — The rate hikes are coming! The rate hikes are coming! Eventually. Days after the Federal Reserve seemed to sound the alarm that the era of near-zero interest rates is ending, Chairman Ben Bernanke tempered those expectations a bit this week. Just because the Fed boosted the rate it charges banks, he told Congress, doesn't mean it will move any time soon to boost broader interest rates too. Read more»

Inflation is bad, making things more expensive.  Except that it can also be good, when it brings you a raise or makes it easier to pay your debts. So which is it? The chief economist at the International Monetary Fund argues in a recent paper that, well, maybe the Federal Reserve should aim to keep inflation at 4% instead of 2%, the current target. Read more»

In a largely symbolic move, the Federal Reserve increased the discount rate to banks by .25% on Thursday, sending the message to financial institutions that their ride on Easy Street could be coming to a dead end (the discount rate is the rate at which banks can borrow money from the government in an emergency). Read more»

A new study shows large banks have a growing problem on their hands — customers are losing trust in out-of-touch banks and see larger institutions as becoming more selfish. The February study of 50 U.S. financial service companies from Forrester Research says that customers are so fed up that they’re more than willing to take a walk and that banks need to wake up before they lose them for good. Read more»