Path To Rising Interest Rates May Not Be In The Cards As Fed Pivots On Policy

NEW YORK, May 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- RateWatch, a premier banking data and analytics service owned by TheStreet, Inc. (NASDAQ: TST) reported today that national averages generally remained unchanged at record-low levels. The Federal Reserve last Wednesday surprised economists by stating that it would "increase or reduce" monetary stimulus as needed. Since late 2008, the Federal Reserve has continued to keep the short-term federal funds rate at a range of zero to 0.25%.

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The policy-making statement pivoted from the previous Federal Open Market Committee meeting that had said more central bankers were embracing the idea of scaling back current purchasing programs. "The possibility that the Fed may implement more easing if economic conditions continue to slide suggests that the path to raising interest rates may not yet be in the cards," says Joe Deaux, TheStreet's Economist. "However, Friday's upside surprise jobs report could rekindle the debate to scale back stimulus."

NATIONAL AVERAGE RESULTS - $10K

TOP RATE ISSUERS - $10K
This is a list of issuers with top interest rates. The issuer's Financial Strength Rating is an independent, unbiased evaluation of quarterly regulatory statements. Institutions are assigned a letter grade of A-E with "A" representing the highest rating based on a review of many aspects of financial safety including capitalization, asset quality, profitability and liquidity. For more information, visit www.weissratings.com/help/what-our-ratings-mean.aspx.  Information is believed to be accurate, but not guaranteed.

Financial Strength Rating: A=Excellent, B=Good, C=Fair, D=Weak, E=Very Weak
                                                Plus sign "+" = top of range, Minus sign "-" = bottom of range

Data is surveyed weekly with averages calculated each Monday afternoon from RateWatch's unbiased national interest rate survey of over 96,000 financial institution locations across the United States.

About RateWatch
For over 20 years, RateWatch has been the premier provider of competitive interest rate and product information to financial institutions across the United States.  Consistently providing top quality, highly relevant data RateWatch maintains the largest database in the industry with deposit, loan, and fee information monitoring over 96,000 locations. Rate surveys, product comparisons, financial strength reporting, local/regional/national averages, fee reporting, specialty reports and more are available.  To learn more about RateWatch, visit www.rate-watch.com.  RateWatch is a division of TheStreet, Inc.

About TheStreet
TheStreet, Inc. (www.t.st) is the leading independent digital financial media company providing business and financial news, investing ideas and analysis to personal and institutional investors worldwide.  The Company's portfolio of business and personal finance brands includes: TheStreet, RealMoney, RealMoney Pro, Stockpickr, Action Alerts PLUS, Options Profits, MainStreet and RateWatch. To learn more, visit www.thestreet.com.  The Deal, the Company's institutional business, provides intraday coverage of mergers and acquisitions and all other changes in corporate control.  To learn more, visit www.thedeal.com.

Contact:

Erin Corcoran
TheStreet, Inc.
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SOURCE TheStreet