In a very dramatic turn of events, Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve have lowered the federal funds rate 50 basis points. I, for one, am quite shocked that the cut was this large. As predicted, the stock market soared immediately following the announcement with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up almost 200 points within minutes. This is the first cut in four years and will probably be followed by more rate cuts in the future should the credit crisis continue into the fourth quarter of 2007.

[tags]federal reserve, federal funds, rate, interest, 50, basis points, shaun carter, ben bernanke, alan greenspan, dow jones, stock market, investing, rate cut[/tags]