Rate cuts do little to calm markets: related news

Rate cuts do little to calm markets

Oct. 8: The U.S. Fed led a coordinated round of global official rate cuts on Wednesday to stem a global financial crisis.

Poll: How do you prefer to charge for freelance Web design?

Money is on a lot of our minds this season. Either we're worried that we don't have enough, or we're trying to make the most of what we do have. Either way, charging for your work becomes more and more important. But how do you charge? Coming up with a pricing structure or just deciding what to charge can be hard. If you decide to bill for your hourly work, how do you decide on a fair rate? And how do you go about deciding to bill at a flat-rate vs. hourly? If you do freelance Web design, what is your preferred method of charging customers?

=DJ WORLD FOREX: Dollar Steady Vs Yen After BOJ Rate Cut

By Dan Molinski OF DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The dollar was little changed against the yen Friday after the Bank of Japan cut interest rates, but not by quite as much as markets were hoping. Japan's central bank cut its benchmark rate by 20 basis points to 0.30% in an effort to encourage lending and spark growth in the country's struggling economy. Markets were expecting a 25 basis-point cut, so the disappointment pushed Tokyo's stock market lower. That caused modest risk aversion, which pushed the low-yielding yen higher across the board as global currency investors dumped their bets on higher-yielding currencies that were funded with loans from Japan. "In truth, a 20 basis point cut is likely to do little for the domestic Japanese economy," said Dustin Reid, currency strategist at RBS Global Banking & Markets.

I bond rate rises

After six months with zero for a fixed rate, the U.S. Treasury has once again included a fixed-rate component to the current I bond. The new composite rate of 5.64 percent consists of a fixed rate of 0.70 percent and an inflation-triggered, semi-annually adjustable rate of 4.92* percent. You have to go back to November 2005 to find a higher rate on the I bond.

US may take stakes in banks Rate cuts fail to stabilize world markets

The Treasury Department is considering taking ownership stakes in many United States banks after emergency interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and central banks around the world yesterday failed to end a global panic in financial markets.

Informa Research Services Recommends Online Rate Tables to Stay Atop Changing Market

CALABASAS, Calif.--(Business Wire)-- Today, the Federal Reserve kept the target Fed Fund's rate steady at 2.00%. The Fed Fund's rate is the overnight rate of interest at which Fed Funds are traded among financial institutions. These loans are used to fulfill Federal Reserve minimum funding requirements. While this decision was made to calm the market, rates have been moving somewhat unpredictably as of late. Informa Research Services, Inc. recommends consumers use the Internet to ensure they get the best rates no matter what the rate environment is like (http://moneycentral.msn.com/loan/loan.aspx?iType=1). Mortgage rates are not directly linked to the Fed Fund's rate, but historically, they tend to correlate over time. However, as of late, this has not been the case.

India's central bank cuts interest rates to 8%, cuts by 1%

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- The Reserve Bank of India lowered its base lending rate Monday, a surprise move that came days before a regularly scheduled meeting of its policy board. The central bank slashed its base lending rate by 1 percetage point to 8% with immediate effect, according to a statement published on its Website Monday. The rate cut was the first since 2004. "The Reserve Bank has been, and will continue to monitor the impact of global developments on our financial markets and on our liquidity conditions and will take action as appropriate," the central bank said in the statement. End of Story

How Do You Justify the Existence of IT?

bakamaki writes "I work for a small manufacturing company as a SysAdmin. My boss is a DBA. We are the only IT employees. He recently decided to record hours spent on his projects and then evaluate how much time the databases he writes save the employees. Then he translates that into a $ figure. He's asking me to do something similar but I'm kinda at a loss. It seems most of the stuff I do is preventative, IE care and feeding of servers and network infrastructure in addition to all the break fix stuff I do for the user base with their desktops. When in this position what do you folks usually do?"

South Korean central bank makes record rate cut

Seoul - South Korea's central bank on Monday announced its largest-ever rate cut, sinking its key rate by 0.75 percentage points to 4.25 per cent, as it seeks to stave off more dire repercussions from the global financial crisis. The Bank of Korea said "a large cut in the base rate is called for in order to guard securely against the possibility of a sharp contraction of real economic activity against the backdrop of the large swings of the exchange rate and stock prices and the partial seizing-up of the credit markets."

Peachtree LBP® Announces Update of Loan Rate for LBP 401(k) Plus®Loading...

NORCROSS, GA — November 3, 2008 - Peachtree LBP, the Administrator for LBP 401(k) Plus, announced that today’s rate for loans made as part of LBP 401(k) Plus is 5.23%. The loan rate is based on the 12 month LIBOR rate (currently 3.28%) plus a margin of 1.95%. (The LIBOR rate varies on a day-to-day basis, and the actual rate on an LBP® case is set at the time of funding.)

Peachtree LBP Announces Update of Loan Rate for LBP 401(k)PlusLoading...

NORCROSS, GA — October 1, 2008 - Peachtree LBP, the Administrator for LBP 401(k) Plus, announced that today’s rate for loans made as part of LBP 401(k) Plus is 5.91%. The loan rate is based on the 12 month LIBOR rate (currently 3.96%) plus a margin of 1.95%. (The LIBOR rate varies on a day-to-day basis, and the actual rate on an LBP® case is set at the time of funding.)

Bank Cuts UK Base Rate to 3.00% - 11/11/2008

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has made the dramatic move to cut the UK base rate down to 3.00% from 4.50%. The MPC had little option but to reduce the base rate today, the only real decision was by how much. The 150 basis point cut is a very bold move but is one that will be warmly welcomed by households across the UK even though it is much needed given the current economic decline and the UK’s ensuing recession.

Bank of Japan cuts key interest rate to 0.3 per cent

TOKYO - Japan's central bank said Friday it was cutting its key interest rate by 20 basis points to 0.30 per cent, stepping up efforts to calm shaky markets and fight recession in Asia's largest economy.

S.Korea c.bank reaffirms pledges to calm markets

SEOUL, Nov 17 (Reuters) - South Korea's central bank reaffirmed on Monday its previous pledges to take action if necessary to calm local financial markets and said recent drops in domestic bond prices were excessive. Chung Hee-chun, head of the Bank of Korea's financial markets department, said by telephone investors had been reacting "too sensitively" to negative factors and that the central bank was closely watching the market's movements.

Inherited IRA withdrawals

My grandfather has an IRA through his bank that expires in 2014. He died this year. I closed all his CDs and paid the penalties. How do I close his IRA? I called the bank and told them I wanted to close it, but they said you can't close one early. Do I insist and just pay a penalty or do I tell them he died? Do I have to then go to court? The IRA is only $3,900. What do I do?

UPDATE 3-Some Hong Kong banks finally cut lending rates

By Susan Fenton and Christina Lo HONG KONG, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Some Hong Kong banks, including HSBC, finally cut their prime rates on Friday following a drop in interbank rates, after ignoring official rate reductions in the past two months as the global financial crisis deepened. But Friday's rate cuts of 25 basis points each were small and other banks left lending rates unchanged. That was despite a plunge in interbank rates in the past week as central banks in Europe and Asia eased monetary policy to try to contain the biggest financial crisis in decades. HSBC said it would reduce its best lending rate to Hong Kong customers by 25 basis points to 5 percent, its lowest level since November 2004, from Monday. 'The interbank rate level has come down, so there is room for an interest rate cut under these conditions,' a spokeswoman for the b

National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) official interest rates - 31/10/2008

PRAGUE. OCTOBER 31. INTERFAX CENTRAL EUROPE - Following is a table of official money market rates as set by the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS). The central bank's Monetary Policy Council last changed interest rates after its October 28, 2008 meeting. The NBS will hold its next rate-setting meeting on November 25, 2008. NBS OFFICAL INTEREST RATES Rate Current (%) Last change (bps) Last change date Basic interest 4.25 -50 24/04/2007 rate of the NBS 2 week repo rate 4.25 -50 24/04/2007 Overnight 2.75 +50 24/04/2007 sterilization rate Overnight 5.75 -100 24/04/2007 refinancing rate Source: NBS BK/MS/ For further information please contact the reporter at email: brian.kenety@interfax.cz or by telephone on: (+420) 221 105 336.

Little Seiko Unicycling Robot Caught On Video, Uncycling Straight Into Your Heart

Here's video of Murata's Little Seiko balancing robot up to its tricks on a unicycle. It's a smart little thing: as well as balancing on that single wheel with nifty gyro and counterbalance robotic action, it can do collision avoidance. And boy, if it isn't the cutest little robot you ever did see. [Bot Junkie]

What do you think is the best PHP Open Source CMS?

CMS Critic says that Drupal is the best, with Joomla! and CMS Made Simple tied for second. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? I've never used CMS Made Simple, but I do like Drupal a bit better than Joomla! It just seemed a little bit easier to use to me.

MONEY MARKETS-Dollar rates stable in Asia as central banks move

HONG KONG, Oct 27 (Reuters) - The cost of borrowing dollars overnight remained steady in Asia on Monday as central banks attempted to unlock credit and encourage commercial banks to lend rather than hoard cash. The Bank of Korea slashed its benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points -- its biggest rate cut ever -- and Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso said the government will expand its bank bailout scheme and strengthen rules on short-selling of stocks. 'Its a good move. More central banks around the region and the world should be looking to do the same thing,' said Patrick Bennett, Asia foreign exchange and rates strategist at Societe Generale. 'What it is saying is that monetary authorities stand to do everything to provide greater confidence to the market.

HIGHLIGHTS 2-BOJ's Shirakawa: More rate cuts may hurt markets

TOKYO, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said on Friday that global financial markets remained under great strain, hurting Japanese corporate financing, but cutting interest rates nearer zero may not help.

HIGHLIGHTS 2-BOJ's Shirakawa: More rate cuts may hurt markets

TOKYO, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said on Friday that global financial markets remained under great strain, hurting Japanese corporate financing, but cutting interest rates nearer zero may not help.

Trading the Markets With FOSS Software?

Robert writes "Along with many other techies, I share an interest in the world of finance (bubble-era stock options pulled me in). Unfortunately, as someone with a strong preference for GNU/Linux as my operating system of choice, I have found that software in this area seems quite sparse. For awhile I have made do with Python, R, Gnumeric, Gnucash and a telephone, along with some small utilities I have written myself. What I would like to know is: what FOSS software do you use for financial analysis, trading, system development, and testing in a Un*x environment? Are there programs you would like to see written or ported? Do any brokerages, data providers, or other services provide good support for we the few? And finally, what commercial entities do you know of that are using FOSS software in their operation?"

Bank of Japan likely to hold rate-cut fire for now

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- The Bank of Japan's policy board will consider additional measures to calm financial markets and bolster consumer confidence this when it meets this week, but is unlikely to announce further interest rate cuts Friday.

Independent Dev Reports Over 80% Piracy Rate On DRM-Free Game

An anonymous reader writes "Developer 2D Boy has written that they are seeing an 82% piracy rate for everyone's favorite DRM-free physics puzzler, World of Goo . Surprisingly, this rate is in-line with what they were expecting. The article also features a fascinating comparison with the piracy rate of another game that was shipped complete with DRM, at 92%. There seemed to be no major difference in the outcomes of the rate regardless of whether DRM was used or not... well, no difference other than the cost to implement such nonsense."

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