1.   And lowering rates also would make the state a more attractive place to do business and might help attract new jobs, thus improving the economy.

2.   But bond investors, always on the lookout for the ugly underbelly of financial news, fear that the Fed could go too far in lowering rates.

3.   If the measures have the desired affect of lowering rates, stocks could rise in coming weeks, traders said.

4.   Lowering rates for all taxpayers, rather than creating tax breaks for some, would boost the economy more evenly.

5.   Other investors say the Fed may be finished lowering rates for now.

6.   Such a plan would serve to brake economic growth in coming years, providing a rationale for the Fed to compensate by lowering rates now.

7.   Treasuries soon cancelled the gains they made after the Bundesbank surprised traders by lowering rates for the first time since February.

8.   Lowering rates and easing money supply help an economy grow by encouraging borrowing for development and trade, economists said.

9.   But there is a recent counter-view holding that lowering rates may reflect confidence in a currency and hence cause it to appreciate.

10.   Lonski suggested the Fed might hold off from taking any decision, while giving chairman Alan Greenspan a greenlight for lowering rates when he thought it necessary.