We like to think that when we deposit a dollar at the bank, it goes into a big vault and we can pull out that same dollar at any time. But that¿s not how the U.S. banking system works. Banks take that money and invest it to make money themselves, so cash gets spread around. This, naturally, leads to a big risk: What happens if those investments go sour? Well, you¿d be out of luck. You can¿t get your dollar back.

The Federal Reserve doesn¿t like that scenario, so it prohibits banks from putting all the cash it has on deposit on the line. In fact, the Fed forces banks to keep a portion of their assets at the Federal Reserve itself, to make sure that some of your assets won¿t get squandered if the bank¿s bets go south. These are called ¿reserves,¿ (hence, Federal Reserve. Got it? Good), and usually amount to 10% of the total cash kept in checking accounts.

These reserves are never exactly 10%, and banks like to keep a little extra in reserve ¿ not, as you might think, to make you more comfortable that they¿re in good financial shape, but rather so they can take that excess and lend it to other banks and make money off it. (They¿re banks, they can¿t help themselves.) The rate at which they make these loans is called the Federal Funds rate, which is set by the Federal Reserve¿s Federal Open Market Committee.

When you hear people chattering about how the Fed cut or hiked interest rates, this is what they¿re talking about: the interest rate banks can charge for lending money from their reserves. This begs the question: If these are essentially loans between banks, why is the Fed Funds rate so important for the rest of the economy?

Well, simply put, because loans make the financial world go round. Bank A lends Bank B $10,000 at a Fed Funds rate of 5%. Bank B then lends out $10,000 to a small business at 7%. The small business then takes that money and expands the business and hires new workers. Now someone is employed, Bank B has made interest off the loan, and Bank A is the richer for making it all happen. It¿s perhaps overly simplistic, but you get the idea. When you want the economy to thrive, you make lending cheaper.

Of course, sometimes you don¿t want the economy to thrive. In fact, you might want it to cool down, mostly to avoid money flooding the system and causing inflation. In that case, the Fed raises interest rates, making it difficult to lend or borrow.

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Saturday, May 31, 2008

Spike TV Announces 2008 'Guys Choice' Winners

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LOS ANGELES, May 31, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Winners were announced last night during the second annual Spike TV "Guys Choice" (http://www.spike.com/guyschoice/) held at the Sony Studios in Los Angeles. Hosted by stars John Cho and Kal Penn, the show that pays homage to the best in "guydom" premieres on Spike TV (http://www.spike.com/) Sunday, June 22 (10:00 PM-Midnight, ET/PT).

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060322/NYW096LOGO )

Matt Damon netted two of the night's top honors as he was voted "Guy of the Year" by Spike TV viewers, and his portrayal of Jason Bourne in "The Bourne Ultimatum" earned him "Best Ass Kicker" bragging rights.

Box office smash hit "Iron Man" garnered the "Guy Movie of the Year" honor. Star Robert Downey, Jr. and director Jon Favreau were on hand to receive the award.

Playboy editor-in-chief and chief creative officer and American icon, Hugh Hefner, was given the first ever "Alpha Male Award" for his pioneering vision and ground-breaking achievements that forever changed the face of entertainment for men.

The show also honored one of the most successful comedies of all time, as "There's Something About Mary" was inducted into the "Guy Movie Hall of Fame" with Bobby and Peter Farrelly, as well as castmembers Ben Stiller, Cameron Diaz, Lin Shaye and Markie Post on hand to accept the honor. Diaz was also there to receive the "Decade of Hotness" award.

In addition, fresh off winning Super Bowl XLII, Eli Manning took home two awards, "Most Unstoppable Jock" and sharing "Badass DNA" with his brother Peyton. Spike TV's "GUYS CHOICE" also included a house-shaking performance by Disturbed, and appearances by Chuck Liddell, Harrison Ford, Marisa Miller, Robert Downey, Jr., Anne Hathaway, Steve Carell, Kim Kardashian, LeBron James, Eva Mendes, Tila Tequila, Snoop Dogg, and Jeremy Piven, among others.

In addition to honoring the sexiest women and coolest guys from the past year, the show featured unforgettable tributes to legendary entertainers, rockers and babes, as well as edgy stand-up comedy and ground breaking musical performances.

 A full list of winners is included below:
   GUY OF THE YEAR ALPHA MALE GUY MOVIE OF THE YEAR Matt Damon Hugh Hefner "Ironman" BRASS BALLS NEXT BIG THING HOTTEST GIRL
   ON THE PLANET Harrison Ford Megan Fox Jessica Biel BALLSIEST BAND FUNNIEST M.F. GUY MOVIE HALL OF FAME Linkin Park Steve Carell
   "There's Something About Mary" BIGGEST ASS KICKER SEXIEST SIREN MOST UNSTOPPABLE JOCK Jason Bourne Rihanna Eli Manning KING
   OF COMEDY MOST DANGEROUS MAN DECADE OF HOTNESS Chris Rock Anderson Silva Cameron Diaz HOT N' FRESH PLAY OF THE YEAR OUTSTANDING
   LITERARY ACHIEVEMENT Marisa Miller David Tyree Slash REAL SPORTS MIRACLE BADASS DNA TOP FANTASY LEAGUER Kevin Everett Eli/Peyton
   Manning LeBron James HOTTEST EVA SO HOT THEY'RE FAMOUS PRESIDENTIAL VOTING CATEGORY Eva Mendes Tila Tequila Barack Obama FEMME
   FATALE HOT & FUNNY FIERCEST FEMALE Jessica Simpson Sarah Silverman Milla Jovovich ("Resident Evil") VIRAL VIDEO LUCKIEST
   BASTARD HILARIOUS DOT COM AWARD I'm F**king Ben Brian Austin Green Funny or Die Affleck SICKEST RHYMES KILLER QUOTE FOXIEST
   PRESIDENTIAL GROUPIE Kanye West "Don't taze me, bro." Hillary Hottie

To view exclusive footage, interviews, behind-the-scenes access, and more from the "Guys Choice," log-on to www.spike.com

The official sponsors of Spike TV's "Guys Choice" (http://www.spike.com/guyschoice/) are Cingular, now the new AT&T, Corona, Degree Men, Pizza Hut, Sega: "The Incredible Hulk Video" Game, SoBe and the U.S. Army.

Casey Patterson, Spike TV's senior vice president, event production & talent development, Carol Donovan and Beth McCarthy-Miller are executive producers.

Spike TV is available in 96.1 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV's Internet address is www.spike.com.

SOURCE Spike TV

http://www.spike.com

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