So the effort to keep the economy going by continuing the expansion of credit (which is the goal of FED monetary policy when it lowers interest rates way below the rate of inflation)has come to a crashing halt.
It is the inevitable end to a credit driven financial boom.
Yep. Here’s another example I expect to see at US Banks soon:
Interbank Market Fails to Respond to UK Interest Rate Cut
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4313
This means that the banks are extremely reluctant to pass on Thursdays rate cut to customers. Some of the tactics deployed by banks to confuse customers, is to raise interest rates before the interest rate decision and then cut by the same amount following the rate cut, thus no net change.
However the continuing credit crisis has eroded banks balance sheets to such an extent that some banks even went so far as raising interest rates on some mortgage products following the rate cut.