The Nickersons Celebrate Fall

Having to cook for a growing family, we have learned to simplify our recipes. We have also made it a fun thing to do to share with our girls and something the entire family can do together. You will find this apple pie very easy to make and you will need less than 30 minutes to complete, even with a 2 ½ year old at your side. J

These are the ingredients you will need for the pie.

1 Pillsbury pie crust

7 apples, Macintosh and/or Granny Smith

1/2 cup of sugar blended with 2 tsp. of cinnamon

1 Tablespoon of Lemon Juice

Prepare pie crust in your favorite pie plate

Peel and slice apples and then place in bowl. Mix in lemon, sugar and cinnamon and gently toss to make sure all apples are coated. Place apples in a pie plate. Place pie crust over apples. Seal the edges and decorate edge with fork or fingers. Poke a few holes on top and be creative when doing this.

Bake at 425 degrees for 45-50 min

Serve warm with your favorite ice cream.

The G is for Grace and E is for Emma.

Enjoy, The Nickerson’s!

Fed's Drop Rates?

What rate is the Federal Reserve Bank dropping? The Fed Funds Rate is the interest rate at which depository institutions lend balances at the Federal Reserve to other depository institutions overnight.

What Does This Mean?

If for any reason a bank fell short of its Federal Reserve deposit requirements, it could borrower funds from another Lending Institution, this is the rate it would be charged to repay the loan. This has not happened that often until recent months.

The Fed Fund Rate is now used as an index to set many different rates used for borrowing and granting credit.

Some examples are the prime rate, which is currently at 7.75%. The prime is set by taking The Fed Fund rate plus 3.00%, which would give the rate of 7.75%. Many banks will use this number to set Home Equity Lines of Credit.

Federal Chairman Ben Bernanke

When setting rates such as these, an index and a margin are required. The index is a published rate that can be adjusted on a daily basis based on the economy and is typically a rate that is common. The Fed Fund Rate, The 1 Year Treasury Bill, The LIBOR are to name a few. A Lender or Bank will then add its Margin to the index. This Margin is the fee or price the bank needs to charge in order to be profitable when lending to credit worthy clients. The higher the risk of the client, the higher the margin is to be charged in order to maintain this loan.

Many times you will see the language “An index plus a Margin”. Adjustable Rate Mortgages, when adjusted, are based on the 1 Year Treasury Bill plus a Margin of 2.75%. When calculated out, this generates a rate of 7.25% today. Credit cards work very similar, the index most commonly used for credit cards is the Prime Rate. Then a margin is to this index. You will see in the very fine print of your credit card, The Prime Rate published in the Wall Street Journal plus a margin of 16.00%. When added to together, this forms your credit card rate of 23.75%. Credit Cards is a very risky business with so many borrowers defaulting on them, therefore a much higher rate is charged.

Car Loans, personal loans, lines of credit, commercial loans and credit cards are many of the loans and programs that are affected the Fed Fund Rate. These loans can be adjusted monthly, quarterly or when the Federal Reserves feels like it (has to be a good reason of course). The one rate it has no direct relationship to is the Fixed Rate Mortgages.

Below is a link to this article on our website, where you can find more about Emerson Lending Company.

http://emersonlending.net/custompage-view.aspx?id=25