Lenders begin passing on base rate hikes - 2004-02-05
As the Bank of England declared it was to hike the base rate by 0.25% to 4%, Abbey was the first mortgage provider to declare an increase to its standard variable rate, passing on the full quarter point increase to give an SVR of 6%.

Northern Rock also announced it would be increasing its standard variable rate by 0.25% to 5.99%. Britain's biggest mortgage lender, the Halifax, said it was reviewing its rates but would not make a decision today.
Read the full story at Guardian Unlimited

Chicago FHLB 2003 income up 55 pct vs year ago - 2004-02-05
The Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank said its 2003 earnings jumped to $354.6 million, up 55 percent from $228.2 million in 2002 on strong demand from its members for its mortgage funding programs.

The Chicago FHLB is one of 12 regional banks that make up the Federal Home Loan Bank System and are jointly owned by 7,900 member banks, insurers and credit unions.
Read the full story at Forbes