Most of the press attention in Washington DC last week was on the healthcare reform revival meeting convened at Blair House on Thursday and for good reason - it was so long it stretched across several news cycles. The summit was convened by President Obama allegedly to see if a bipartisan approach to healthcare reform could [...]

The Federal Reserve raised the Discount Rate Thursday evening after the close of New York trading and the Tout TV crew immediately shifted into Oh My God! mode. Maria Bartiromo was in a tizzy trying to figure out what it all meant (as if there was any chance of that), the S&P futures traded down [...]

In a surprise move, the Fed announced their decision to raise the discount rate to 0.75%, up from 0.5%. The discount rate is the rate that the Fed charges banks for short-term loans. Even though the announcement came after the closing bell, the financial markets responded in emphatic fashion. The US dollar spiked and Treasury prices [...]