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Past FOMC Meetings

2008

January 29-30
Rate Cut: 0.50%
March 18
Rate Cut: 0.75%
April 29-30
Rate Cut: 0.25%
June 24-25
NO CHANGE
August 5
NO CHANGE
September 16
NO CHANGE
October 28-29
Rate Cut: 0.50%
December 16
Rate Cut: 1.00%

Two rate cuts outside FOMC meetings in 2008:

January 22
Rate cut: -0.75%
October 8
Rate cut: -0.50%

2008 was the year of the global financial "logjam" as commercial lending dried up. As the Fed led global central banks into an orgy of money creation, commodity prices soared in the first half of the year only to dive even faster in the second half as deleveraging overwhelmed money creation. On December 16, the Fed reached central bank "nirvana" by cutting its controlling "funds rate" to a target of between 0.00 and 0.25 percent. It remains to be seen what the Fed will do in 2009. The only thing which is certain is that they WON'T be cutting official interest rates.

2007

January 30-31
NO CHANGE
March 20-21
NO CHANGE
May 9
NO CHANGE
June 27-28
NO CHANGE
August 7
NO CHANGE
September 18
Rate Cut: -0.50%
October 30-31
Rate Cut: -0.25%
December 11
Rate Cut: -0.25%

Ben Bernanke's first full year as Fed Chairman. 2007 was the year when the LAST great market bubble - the US real estate bubble - burst spectacularly. That was made plain by the "subprime" crisis of August 2007 and sealed when the Fed sprung a "surprise" 0.50% Discount Rate cut on August 17, 2007. By the end of the year, the Fed Funds rate had fallen from 5.25 percent to 4.25 percent.

2006

January 31
Rate rise: +0.25%
March 28
Rate rise: +0.25%
May 10
Rate rise: +0.25%
June 28-29
Rate rise: +0.25%
August 8
NO CHANGE
September 20
NO CHANGE
October 24-25
NO CHANGE
December 12
NO CHANGE

Alan Greenspan came to the end of a 19 year tenure at the Fed in January 2006. The 0.25% rate rises continued until the June FOMC meeting and rates have been held steady since. Hence, in the two years between June 2004 and June 2006, the Fed Funds rate was raised from 1.00% to 5.25% in seventeen equal 0.25% steps.

2005

February 1-2
Rate rise: +0.25%
March 22
Rate rise: +0.25%
May 3
Rate rise: +0.25
June 29-30
Rate rise: +0.25%
August 9
Rate rise: +0.25%
September 20
Rate rise: +0.25%
November 1
Rate rise: +0.25%
December 13
Rate rise: +0.25%

Eight meetings in 2005 and eight 0.25% rate rises, making thirteen in all since the Fed Funds rate lifted off its 1.0% lows on June 30, 2004.

2004

January 27-28
NO CHANGE
March 16
NO CHANGE
May 4
NO CHANGE
June 29-30
Rate rise: +0.25%
August 10
Rate rise: +0.25%
September 21
Rate rise: +0.25%
November 10
Rate rise: +0.25%
December 14
Rate rise: +0.25%

Fed Funds rate raised 125% in six months in 2004 - from 1.00% in June to 2.25% in December.


2003

January 28-29
NO CHANGE
March 18
NO CHANGE
May 6
NO CHANGE
June 24-25
Rate cut: -0.25%
August 12
NO CHANGE
September 16
NO CHANGE
October 28
NO CHANGE
December 9
NO CHANGE

One rate cut in 2003. Fed Funds rate ends the year at 1.00%.


2002

January 29-30
NO CHANGE
March 19
NO CHANGE
May 7
NO CHANGE
June 25-26
NO CHANGE
August 13
NO CHANGE
September 24
NO CHANGE
November 6
Rate cut: -0.50%
December 10
NO CHANGE

One rate cut in 2002. Fed Funds rate ends the year at 1.25%.


2001

January 30-31
Rate cut: -0.50%
March 20
Rate cut: -0.50%
May 15
Rate cut: -0.50%
June 26-27
Rate cut: -0.25%
August 21
Rate cut: -0.25%
October 2
Rate cut: -0.50%
November 6
Rate cut: -0.50%
December 11
Rate cut: -0.25%

Three rate cuts outside FOMC meetings in 2001:

January 3
Rate cut: -0.50%
April 18
Rate cut: -0.50%
September 17
Rate cut: -0.50%

ELEVEN rate cuts in 2001. Fed Funds rate cut from 6.50% to 1.75%.
That's 475 basis points (4.75%) - or - 73.1% of the way to ZERO.

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