Yesterday the Fed gave the markets a sign that short-term interest rates are not going to be raised anytime soon: “Based on its current assessment, the Committee judges that it can be patient in beginning to normalize the stance of monetary policy. The Committee sees this guidance as consistent with its previous statement that it likely will be appropriate to maintain the 0 to 1/4 percent target range for the Federal Funds Rate for a considerable time following the end of its asset purchase program in October”. Knowing that corporate America will have access to cheap money for the foreseeable future, the equity markets are on a bull run–the DOW is up 400 points from this time yesterday, prior to the Fed announcement. So ironically, the policy to keep short-term rates low is actually putting upward pressure on our long-term mortgage rates.
