Just put the noise canceling headphones on and ignore the crashing sound of the stock market…

It should all be over by the time the batteries run out.

On Monday the Fed dropped interest rates by a full 0.75% out of the blue. Unprovoked, unannounced, and unexpected, both in scale and timing. Sure, The Street had predicted a rate cut, but no one was predicting three-quarter basis points, and few were predicting an unscheduled cut.

There is something strange about this move.

Big Ben Bernanke has been fairly slow to react to economic data, and has at most taken a half basis-point chunk out of rates at any one time. So why the big bite all of a sudden?

I suspect that there is more to this interest rate …

Today President Bush shed some light on how the government plans to artificially stimulate the economy.

The President said he’s looking for “direct and rapid tax relief” for both consumers and businesses. To achieve this, he plans on implementing an income tax rebate of between $300 and $600 per person, and depending on your circumstances, your rebate may be even bigger.

The white house is looking for a repeat performance from the plan implemented in 2001. It seemed to work back then, however I think the direct effect was a bit over inflated.

But this time it’s different.

We’ve got a different situation this time, with different economic pitfalls pushing the health …

Well, by now the 25 basis point rate cut is old news. It’s interesting to see the mixed reaction to the cut; some say it wasn’t enough and that The Street was expecting 50 points, others say that the Fed should quit trying to save the economy from recession and let the free market play out.

A few highlights:

This Fed continues to display their cluelessness. They will definitely have to cut more times, so just GET IT OVER WITH now. Silly Fed. -Jordan, In The Money

What is the right number for interest rates? 4%? 3%? 2%? No one knows for sure, and that’s the problem. Investors are …

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Your credit health may start going south, and it may not be your fault.

Currently, your FICO score is the long standing gauge on risk when it comes to lending money. Some are saying that the FICO financial thermometer may be due for calibration, all thanks to the current credit crunch, backed up by the mortgage epidemic.

Analyst Meredith Whitney, on the notion that more people have taken on “more house”, says that a loan-to-value (LTV) may be a more appropriate way to measure financial risk when it comes to lending money. Lenders who have put too much weight into credit scores when it came time …

It seems not everyone loves Jim Cramer. It seems not everyone sees the value in his show, Mad Money.

It seems that Paul Ferrell, in particular, given a stage and a microphone, is more than willing to lob the opening volley that would not only spur an open retort from the mad man himself, but a frothy discussion on boards, blogs, and forums.

In case you missed it, Paul Ferrell’s column appeared on MarketWatch.com last week, and I really didn’t find anywhere in the piece where Ferrell held anything back. I even read between the lines…

“Last week I finally listened to the “Mad …

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Well it appears that the effects of our credit crunch are starting to show up in non-essential services.

Sprint is losing subscribers. Big time. Sprint lost 337,000 post-paid subscribers, or customers who sign annual contracts and pay monthly bills. Total subscribership fell 60,000 from the second quarter to 54 million. The competition, however is doing better. AT&T and Verizon Wireless added two million and 1.6 million net subscribers, respectively. Furthermore, Sprint expects subscriber losses to continue into the fourth quarter.

It seems that Sprint’s troubles stem from its reliance on customers with poor credit, the cellphone industry’s version of the …

The new Fox Business channel debuted a couple weeks ago, and at first I blew it off as another talking-heads show that did little for the common Joe’s Wall Street appetite.

However, the channel is starting to grow on me. Maybe it’s because it’s new, or maybe it’s because it’s just different.

I particularly like the Fox Business Happy Hour. It’s got a couple young hosts (Cody Willard and Rebecca Gomez) that a guy my age could identify with. They’re out in the open instead of being stuck behind a desk, and …

It’s really no surprise that the Fed dropped rates by another quarter point yesterday. In fact, The Street figured it was a 90% sure thing that it would happen.

So now I can expect my Emigrant Direct savings account rate to drop accordingly, just as companies like Proctor and Gamble are issuing statements that they’re worried about consumer spending in the next few months (and when they indicate publicly they’re worried about it, don’t count on financials being all that great next quarter).

With the second rate cut totaling 0.75% in six weeks, it’s clear the Fed is trying …

Yesterday crude oil settled in above $93 per barrel on production problems in Mexico and a weaker dollar.
Pemex, of Mexico, took 600,000 barrels a day off line due to weather. Most of the problem stems from ports being closed, as they are unable to export any more crude and have run out of storage.

The lost production will likely be made up quickly, but it will certainly draw on U.S. inventory levels in the coming weeks, which should further support prices. Crude is up 10% since Wednesday, when the DOE said in its weekly inventory report that stockpiles fell, contrary to analysts’ expectations for a build.

On Wednesday, the Fed may …