Margins Up

As the market hit a new high last week, the Federal Reserve Board boosted margin requirements, the amount of cash needed to buy a stock, by 10% (to 70%). This was the second increase in four months. Though the credit tightening was less than expected, FRB nevertheless hopes it will slow down the market's rise by cutting the amount of margin trading. Brokers' loans to customers in April were double the rate of the first three months, although the total amount of credit in the market is but a tiny percentage of the $176 billion value of the listed stocks.

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