Don't sell those junk bonds!

Interest rate hikes keep receding beyond the horizon so hold on to those ARMs and hi-yield securities, and you don't need to rush the refi...

March 17, 2004 | WASHINGTON (AP) -- Extra-low borrowing costs are likely to stick around through most of the year as the anemic jobs market restrains the Federal Reserve from raising short-term interest rates.
That was the view expressed by a growing number of private economists after Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and his colleagues said Tuesday they can be 'patient' in ordering rate increases. Fed policy-makers said that 'new hiring has lagged' even though the economy is growing solidly.

'Don't expect the Fed to raise rates anytime before the election unless we get an unexpected multi-month pop in payrolls and a rise in inflation,' said Sherry Cooper, chief economist at BMO Nesbitt Burns. 'Even a rate hike in November or December seems to be a long shot now.'

... bummer about the job search. Pass me the Grey Poupon.