Inflation Pressures Are Easing but Rate Cut Forecast Remains Uncertain

The New Year is beginning where the old one ended -- with uncertainty about when – or whether – the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates.

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With the blueprint for resuscitating the banking industry, for better or worse, now in place, President Barack Obama has turned his attention to the housing market, announcing a $275 billion government effort to help as many as 9 million homeowners at risk of losing their homes.

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Financial industry lobbyists fighting (not very successfully thus far) to block mortgage cram-down authority for bankruptcy judges will not be pleased with this news. 

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Legislation allowing bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of home mortgages, introduced, as expected, in the early days of the new Congressional session, received an unexpected boost when Citicorp broke ranks with the banking industry and withdrew its opposition to the measure.

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The new credit card regulations finalized last month have brought bankers an early, bracing blast of the frostier regulatory climate they are expecting with Democrats once again controlling the White House and holding majorities in both the House and Senate.