London Inter-Bank Office Rate
LIBOR is the rate on dollar-denominated deposits, also know as Eurodollars, traded
between banks in London
The index
is quoted for one month, three months, six months as well as one-year periods.
LIBOR
is the base interest rate paid on deposits between banks in the Eurodollar market.
A Eurodollar is a dollar deposited in a bank in a country where the currency is
not the dollar. The Eurodollar market has been around for over 40 years and is a
major component of the International financial market.
London
is the center of the Euromarket in terms of volume.
The LIBOR
rate quoted in the Wall Street Journal is an average of rate quotes from 16 major
banks.
The most
common quote for mortgages is the 6-month quote. LIBOR's cost of money is a widely
monitored international interest rate indicator. LIBOR is currently being used
by both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as an index on the loans they purchase.
LIBOR
is quoted daily in the Wall Street Journal's Money Rates and compares most closely
to the 1-Year Treasury Security index.
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