Daily FNArena News - FYI

Weekly musings from your editor. Are you ready to be surprised? Here’s a question and some answers that will surprise you, I promise.

July TIC data showed that the flow of foreign funds into the US was already starting to dry up even before the proverbial hit the fan in August.

Just as important as the rate cut itself is the accompanying Fed rhetoric.

The Fed cut the target rate and the discount rate by 50 basis points last night. The Dow rallied 336 points. The US dollar fell to a record low. Gold surged to a 27-year high. Oil surged to a record high. The Aussie jumped US2c.

Swift and decisive actions taken by the Bank of England and the British government are likely to have killed the global liquidity crunch, say GaveKal analysts.

Increasingly bellicose rhetoric from Dick Cheney with respect to Iran helped to push oil and gold higher last night as Wall Street awaited the Fed.

While UK mortgage lender Northern Rock may have faced insolvency due to the global credit crunch, its own lending practices suggest it is hardly an innocent victim.

Volatility is set to return to the markets this week as the Fed makes its rate decision and US brokerages report third quarter earnings.

The Dow reversed a 100 point fall on Friday as poor economic data cheered a market hoping for a big rate cut.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand left official interest rates unchanged yesterday and economists suggest early next year is the soonest the market can expect a rate cut.