Fed Slashes Rates Again

Updated from 2:15 p.m.

Chairman Ben Bernanke's Federal Reserve offered up another half-point rate cut to investors on Wednesday, amid signs of malaise in the U.S. economy.

The decision comes on top of the Fed's emergency 75 basis point reduction last week, the first reduction of that size since 1982. Wednesday's move brings the central bank's fed funds rate target to 3%, the lowest it has been since 2005.

"Financial markets remain under considerable stress, and credit has tightened further for some businesses and households," the Fed said in its policy statement that accompanied the decision. "Moreover, recent information indicates a deepening of the housing contraction as well as some softening in labor markets." ...