What Does the “Federal Funds Rate,” which the Fed Targets, still Measure? Not Much, Mostly a Bizarre Arbitrage Trade by Wolf Richter • Nov 1, 2025 • 11 Comments “The FOMC should modernize the target rate”: Dallas Fed president Lorie Logan.
Banks Borrow Record $50 Billion at Fed’s New SRF amid Hot Repo Rates, ON RRPs Spike to $52 Billion in Opposite Direction by Wolf Richter • Oct 31, 2025 • 22 Comments Month-End Liquidity-Palooza: Banks finally used the new & improved SRF the way the Fed has been exhorting them to use it to keep a lid on repo rates.
Repo Market Brushfires Doused by Banks’ Use of the Fed’s Standing Repo Facility (SRF) by Wolf Richter • Oct 20, 2025 • 76 Comments The new & improved SRF begins to serve its purpose of allowing the Fed to push QT as far as possible without blowing anything up, unlike last time.
Money-Market Funds & CDs: Americans and their Piles of Interest-Earning Cash by Wolf Richter • Jun 13, 2025 • 105 Comments After inflation, “real” yields on money-market funds are near 2%, and households kept pouring cash into them. But CDs lost ground.
Banks Getting Rid of Bad CRE Loans: Dutch Megabank ING Dumps One of the Largest Office Properties in San Francisco by Wolf Richter • Jun 5, 2025 • 30 Comments The two-tower property sold at a 75% discount. ING’s loss was much smaller. Investors took a bigger loss.
Here Come the HELOCs: Mortgages, Housing-Debt-to-Income-Ratio, Serious Delinquencies, and Foreclosures in Q1 2025 by Wolf Richter • May 14, 2025 • 61 Comments Who’s on the hook this time? Mostly not the banks, but taxpayers, except for HELOCs.
Housing Bubble & Bust #1 and #2 as Seen through Employment at Mortgage Lenders: They Shed Jobs Again, 38% Gone by Wolf Richter • May 12, 2025 • 69 Comments Nonbank mortgage lenders and loan brokers react quickly to demand, which has collapsed.
FDIC Ends Disclosing Total Assets of Banks on “Problem Bank List,” as Disclosure Might Suddenly Trigger a “Disorderly Run” by Wolf Richter • Feb 26, 2025 • 96 Comments Are disclosures of “unrealized losses” on bank balance sheets next?
Money Market Funds, Large CDs, Small CDs, and Total Deposits: Americans’ Huge Piles of Interest-Earning Cash as Rates Drop by Wolf Richter • Dec 13, 2024 • 48 Comments Household cash in money market funds jumps to a record but CD balances begin to decline.
Money Market Funds, Large CDs, Small CDs, and T-Bills: Americans and their Huge Piles of Interest-Earning Cash by Wolf Richter • Sep 13, 2024 • 137 Comments Households’ money market fund & CD balances rise to a record $7.4 trillion; “savings” are far from depleted, they’re bigger than ever.
