By CORA LEWIS, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point Wednesday for the second time since September. Before that, it had gone nine months without a cut.

The federal funds rate is the rate at which banks borrow and lend to one another. While the rates consumers pay to borrow money aren’t directly linked to this rate, shifts affect what you pay for credit cards, auto loans, mortgages, and other financial products.

“While the full economic impact of such a move will unfold over time, early indicators suggest that even modest rate cuts can have meaningful consequences for consumer behavior and financial health,” said Michele Raneri, vice president and head of U.S. research at credit reporting agency TransUnion.

The Fed has two goals when it sets the rate: one, to manage prices for goods and services, and two, to encourage full employment. Typically, the Fed might increase the rate to try to bring down inflation and decrease it to encourage faster economic growth and increase hiring. The challenge now is that inflation is higher than the Fed’s 2% target but the job market has been weak. The government shutdown has also prevented the collection and release of data the Fed relies on to monitor the health of the economy.

Still, the Fed has projected it will cut rates once more before the end of the year.

Here’s what to know:

Interest on savings accounts won’t be as appealing

For savers, falling interest rates will slowly erode attractive yields currently on offer with certificates of deposit (CDs) and high-yield savings accounts.

Three of the top five high yield savings accounts had rate cuts after the last Fed rate cut in September, according to Ken Tumin, founder of DepositAccounts.com, while two of the big five banks (Ally and Discover/Capital One) cut their savings account rates. The top rates for high yield savings account right now remain around 4.46% to 4.6%.

Those are still better than the trends of recent years, and a good option for consumers who want to earn a return on money they may want to access in the near-term. A high yield savings account generally has a much higher annual percentage yield than a traditional savings account. The national average for traditional savings accounts is currently 0.63%, according to Bankrate.

There may be a few accounts with returns of about 4% through the end of 2025, according to Tumin, but the Fed cuts will filter down to these offerings, lowering the average yields as they do.

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A cut will impact mortgages gradually

For prospective homebuyers, the market has already priced in the rate cut.

“Mortgage rates, in particular, have responded swiftly,” said Raneri. “Just in the past week, they fell to their lowest level in over a year. While mortgage rates don’t always move in lockstep with the Fed’s target rate — often pricing in anticipated future cuts, the continued easing of monetary policy may well push rates even lower.”

Bankrate financial analyst Stephen Kates said a declining interest rate environment will provide some relief for borrowers over time.

“Whether it’s a homeowner with a 7% mortgage or a recent graduate hoping to refinance student loans and credit card debt, lower rates can ease the burden on many indebted households by opening opportunities to refinance or consolidate,” he said.

Auto loans are not expected to decline soon

Americans have faced steeper auto loan rates over the last three years after the Fed raised its benchmark interest rate starting in early 2022. Those are not expected to decline anytime soon. While a cut will contribute to eventual relief, it might be slow in arriving, analysts say.

“If the auto market starts to freeze up and people aren’t buying cars, then we may see lending margins start to shrink, but auto loan rates don’t move in lockstep with the Fed rate,” Kates said.

Prices for new cars remain at historically high levels, not adjusting for inflation.

Generally speaking, an auto loan annual percentage rate can run from about 4% to 30%. Bankrate’s most recent weekly survey found that average auto loan interest rates are currently at 7.10% on a 60-month new car loan.

Credit card rate relief could be slow

Interest rates for credit cards are currently at an average of 20.01%, and the Fed’s rate cut may be slow to be felt by anyone carrying a large amount of credit card debt. That said, any reduction is positive news.

“While inflation continues to exert pressure on household budgets, rate cuts offer a potential counterbalance by lowering debt servicing costs,” Raneri said.

Still, the best thing for anyone carrying a large credit card balance is to prioritize paying down high-interest-rate debt, and to seek to transfer any amounts possible to lower APR cards or negotiate directly with credit card companies for accommodation.

The Associated Press receives support from the Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.

By TIM REYNOLDS, Associated Press

Embattled NBA guard Terry Rozier will not receive his salary from the Miami Heat while on leave because of his arrest on federal charges related to a gambling scheme, two people with knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Rozier’s salary — about $26.6 million this season, paid in installments, the first for this season having been due later this week — will be held pending resolution of the legal case, said the people, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the details were not released publicly.

The Heat will not receive any immediate salary cap relief by the NBA’s decision, one of the sources said. If Rozier is cleared and allowed to return to the NBA, which placed him on leave hours after his Oct. 23 arrest, he could receive the held payments in full, one of the sources said.

There are provisions in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement that allow the league, in certain situations, to place salary withheld from a player in an interest-bearing account.

Portland coach Chauncey Billups, who has also been placed on leave by the league after his arrest on gambling-related charges last week, is having his salary held by the Trail Blazers as well, one of the sources said. Billups is under contract into at least the 2026-27 season; the team announced that he agreed to a multiyear extension in April.

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups leaves a federal court after his appearance on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

There was no immediate comment from either the Heat or the Trail Blazers.

Meanwhile, Rozier’s attorney said Wednesday that a federal lien filed with regard to the player’s tax bill in 2021 was satisfied.

The Internal Revenue Service filed that lien against Rozier in November 2023, showing an “unpaid balance of assessment” of $8,218,211.70 for the 2021 tax year. But Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, said in an email to the AP that the actual amount owed to the IRS at that time was a sliver of that total.

“There was never a debt of $8 million,” Trusty wrote. “Out of his total taxes owed in 2021 ($8m) he actually owed $9000. That was paid but the now-defunct lien still needs to be pulled from the local courthouse.”

ESPN first reported the lien’s existence. The lien is a public record, and there is no publicly available document showing it has been removed.

Officials in Broward County, Florida — where the lien was filed — did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A call seeking information from an IRS revenue officer was unanswered. Revenue officers work for the IRS to collect delinquent taxes.

Rozier owns a home in Broward County and records show his property taxes have been paid in full each year. That property is about 30 miles from where the Heat play their home games.

Rozier was playing for the Charlotte Hornets during that 2021 tax year and is now on the Heat roster. He, Billups and nearly three dozen other individuals were arrested last week on gambling-related charges detailed in two separate indictments.

Billups’ attorney, Chris Heywood, has denied the allegations against his client.

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Federal officials alleged that Rozier conspired with associates to help them win bets based on his statistical performance in a game when he was with the Hornets on March 23, 2023 — more than seven months before the lien was prepared and nearly eight months before it was formally filed. Rozier played sparingly in that game and gamblers who wagered that he would finish “under” certain statistical totals won those bets.

The charges against Rozier are similar to what former Toronto player Jontay Porter faced before he was banned from the league by Commissioner Adam Silver in 2024.

Rozier did not play in the final eight games of that 2022-23 season, with he and the Hornets citing a foot injury. The Hornets had several players injured at that time and were already eliminated from playoff contention.

Sportsbooks detected unusual patterns of wagers on the Charlotte game in question — prop bets involving Rozier were flagged and immediately brought to the NBA’s attention — and the league probed the matter but did not find enough evidence to conclude that Rozier broke any rules. The NBA, unlike federal law enforcement, does not have subpoena power.

Trusty has said Rozier is “not a gambler” and looks forward to winning the case.

The NBA said earlier this week that it is reviewing how sensitive information like injury reports — which are public and updated hourly — should be handled going forward. Members of the House and Senate have both asked the NBA for more information.

Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican chairman of the Commerce Committee, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on that panel, wrote Silver this week seeking detail “about how the NBA investigated and handled these allegations” and why the NBA allowed Rozier to continue playing.

A grizzled college hockey coach once said of his puck-moving but turnover-prone team captain: “He makes six big plays in every game. Three for us and three for them.”

The numbers aren’t quite that stark with Minnesota Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov, but expected offensive prowess has been countered, somewhat by giveaways during the team’s sluggish start. In Tuesday’s overtime loss to Winnipeg, an off-target pass by the Russian star ended up in possession of the Jets, and a few seconds later the puck was in the Wild net as they lost their fourth in a row.

While Wednesday’s team skate at TRIA Rink was optional, Wild coach John Hynes said a conversation with Kaprizov was on his agenda before Pittsburgh came to visit on Thursday.

“I see a guy that’s highly competitive that wants to win, that wants to be a difference maker. I think there’s certain aspects of his game that I need to talk with him about,” Hynes said the day after Winnipeg rallied to beat the Wild, 4-3, in overtime — Minnesota’s eighth loss in the past nine games.

The general consensus among the coach and players is that sometimes, especially when a team is slumping and desperate for a feel-good win, players can try to do too much and the results can be costly.

“When the team’s down in the game, when the team’s down in the standings, guys like Kirill, guys like (Matt Boldy), they want to help. They know their responsibility, They try to make plays,” Wild general manager Bill Guerin said Wednesday. “And sometimes it’s maybe not in the right areas.

“It appears to be careless, but it’s not careless. It’s a desire to make a play and to help create offense and get the team going. They’re trying to carry the team. They’re trying to help us get back where we should be.”

Kaprizov started Wednesday with 19 giveaways, 14th in the NHL, and only one takeaway in 11 games.

Guerin noted that even with the Wild’s 3-5-3 start, and the continued absence of regular linemate Mats Zuccarello, Kaprizov’s 15 points in the first 11 games puts him in the top 10 in the NHL. That’s four points behind league leader Jack Eichel of Vegas. Kaprizov’s second-period goal against Winnipeg on Tuesday was his first five-on-five score this season, but on the power play, he is tied for the NHL lead with four goals.

Kaprizov signed the largest contract extension in NHL history last month, eight years for $17 million annually, and there is a sense among some fans that he has lost a bit of fire. Hynes said to the contrary, he sees a player trying too hard.

“It’s not for a lack of effort or lack of care,” he said. “I just think there’s times where you have to have some better decisions. It’s sometimes doing the wrong things for the right reasons, right? You want to make the difference. You want to make a play, but sometimes they’re not there. I think that’s a big part of it.”

Kaprizov’s power play success is a big reason the Wild lead the league, scoring 31.8 percent of the time they have a man advantage.

Another ex-Gopher gets paid

On Wednesday, the Utah Mammoth inked former Gophers forward Logan Cooley to an eight-year contract extension that will pay him an average annual value of $10 million. In his lone season in Dinkytown, Cooley led the Gophers with 22 goals and 38 assists in 39 games as the 2022-23 team made it to the NCAA title game in Tampa.

That payday comes just a few weeks after his former Gophers teammate Jackson LaCombe signed the largest extension in Anaheim Ducks history, $9 million a season for the next eight years. Others from that ’22-23 Gophers team currently in the NHL include St. Louis Blues rookie Jimmy Snuggerud ($950,000 per season), Toronto Maples Leafs forward Matthew Knies ($7.75 million) and Wild defenseman Brock Faber ($8.5 million).

Cooley had a pair of goals on Saturday when the Mammoth beat the Wild 6-2 in St. Paul.

Briefly

Wild winger Yakov Trenin had an NHL-best 51 official hits before Wednesday’s games, and was third in hits per 60 minutes (21.3).

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By TOM MURPHY and MATTHEW PERRONE, Associated Press

Federal regulators are trying to make it easier to develop cheaper alternatives to powerful drugs that many Americans depend on to treat autoimmune diseases or cancers.

The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it has released guidance to simplify studies for biologic drugs and cut unnecessary testing.

Biologic drugs are made from living cells instead of by mixing chemicals. They have led to major advances in treating immune system disorders, eye diseases and some cancers since the late 1990s, but they also are very costly.

For decades, biotech drugmakers argued that their medicines were too complex to be copied by competitors. That finally changed under President Barack Obama’s 2010 health overhaul, which ordered the FDA to create a system for approving “biosimilar drugs.” The industry term arose because scientists insisted it would be impossible to produce exact copies of their biotech drugs.

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FDA’s pathway, finally published in 2015, suggests that drugmakers conduct studies showing patients respond similarly to biosimilar versions when compared with the originals.

The latest proposal seeks to ease that standard, which the administration calls an “unnecessary resource-intensive requirement.”

“The result will be more competition, lower prices and faster access to lifesaving medicines,” said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The draft guidance is the first step in an extensive bureaucratic process. It amounts to a tentative set of recommendations for drugmakers.

The FDA will take public comments on its proposal for 60 days. After that, it must review and revise the document. The final guidance, expected in three months to six months, will not be binding. It will serve as suggestions for drugmakers working on biosimilars.

Biosimilar competition has brought some price relief to patients who take such drugs such as the autoimmune disease treatment Humira. But this may not happen immediately. That can depend on insurance coverage and whether the biosimilar is added to a pharmacy benefit manager’s list of covered drugs.

Experts say that over time, biosimilars also can prompt drugmakers to lower the cost of their biologic drugs or offer bigger rebates to keep their product on a formulary.

Associated Press writer Ali Swenson contributed to this report.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.