We had a parade of bank executives meet with the House Committee on Financial Services. Each one had a set of prepared remarks that described how their banks were lending money and how they are trying to use the money that the U.S. Treasury gave them wisely.

There is no doubt that these bankers are lending money. That is not the problem. The problem is the rate at which they are lending this money. The Federal Reserve has lowered the "prime rate" to 3.25%. The prime rate is the rate at which corporations with the best credit can borrow. So this money should have been lent out at 3.25%, or 1% higher, at 4.25%.

Continue reading Banks not playing fair with TARP money -- should lend at lower rates!

Banks not playing fair with TARP money -- should lend at lower rates! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wall Street and its scoreboard stock exchanges are jubilant with the 0.5% cut in the prime rate. But all is not well. As expected, gold and oil hit record highs on the news yesterday and the sky's the limit. The dollar will be losing value and foreign investors will be buying increasing amounts of our equities, including land, buildings, public and private companies. Expect American ownership to decrease.

The fact that the Federal Reserve sought to pacify investment bankers and individuals who made bad deals in an effort to shore up what was starting to look like big trouble in the "heartland" is not, I think, worthy of celebration. Yes, we should be grateful that Ben Bernanke and crew are keeping a watchful eye on the pulse of the economy and did not wait until we drowned to throw in a lifeline. But for this conservative group to make the cut they had to think things were bad, and that is not exactly heartening news.

Transportation stocks are not doing well this morning, and neither are delivery companies. FedEx Corp (NYSE: FDX) and United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) are showing losses or treading water, even though the overall market is notably up. Why? Fuel costs.

Continue reading FedEx & UPS are not celebrating Bernanke's worried rate cuts - should you?

FedEx & UPS are not celebrating Bernanke's worried rate cuts - should you? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Sep 2007 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.