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Fed's 75 basis point emergency rate cut smacks of desperation

Bloomberg News reports that the Federal Reserve Bank's 75 basis point emergency rate cut this morning has not damped fears in the market. The Fed said this along with its cut: "While strains in short-term funding markets have eased somewhat, broader financial market conditions have continued to deteriorate. The Federal Open Market Committee took the action in view of a weakening of the economic outlook and increasing downside risks to growth."

And yet, U.S. futures markets seem to have recovered somewhat from where they were before the announcement. For example, the S&P 500 Index futures expiring in March retreated 40.5, or 3.1%, to 1,284.8 as of 8:36 a.m. in New York after earlier slumping as much as 5.3%. And The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 1.5% after earlier dropping as much as 4.1%.

I think the problem is that investors holding mortgage-related securities such as Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs) need to mark them to market and raise capital. Cutting interest rates 75 basis points lowers the value of the dollar and contributes to higher oil prices, but it's not clear how it helps CDO investors raise capital.

If the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.

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IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+270.008,419.09
NASDAQ+51.731,449.80
S&P 500+32.60848.81

Last updated: December 02, 2008: 05:01 PM

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