Saturday, February 10, 2018

Interest Rates

The Federal Reserve benchmark interest rate it charges banks remains at 1.25% to 1.5%.

Mortgage Rates rose 0.42% from 12/6/17 to 2/7/18. The 30 year fixed rate went from 4.08% to 4.44% The 15 year fixed rate went from 3.45% to 3.87%.

Bank 5 year CD Rates at 2.5% are quoted at different banks with minimum deposits ranging from $500 to $5000 paying 0.5% per year.

Savings Account Interest rates are appearing at certain banks at 1.5% per year.

The 10 Year Treasury interest rate is up from 2.42% last year to 2.79% now.

Stock prices measured by the Dow Jones Average rose by 68% from 15,541 on 2/11/16 to 26.186 on 2/1/18. Then suffered a correction to 24,345 on 2/5/18 and is now on 2/9/18, migrating up and down around 24,000. It looks like the 30 companies who make up the Dow are being scrutinized.

This stock market drama started on 2/2/18:
On 2/1/18 the DOW closed at a high of 26,186. On 2/2/18 it closed down to 25,520 reversing its march to 27,000. . On 2/5/18 the DOW closed at 24,345 as pundits were citing all of the reasons this correction occurred.

On 2/11/16 the DOW hit a low of 15,451 when global trade continued to falter. Since February 2016 the DOW rose from 15,541 to 26,186. That’s a rise of 10,645 and that’s a rise of 68%.

This 2 year stock rally had a midpoint. On 2/7/17, the DOW closed at 20,090. 

This 68% rise should be revised based on future Dow closings going forward.


Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

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