Here are some basic questions and ...Story Tools WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve's three-quarter percentage point cut in a key interest rate Tuesday was designed to make consumer and corporate borrowing cheaper and thereby kick-start the economy. Moreover, asking your lender whether a rate if fixed or adjustable is important when you're on the look out for the best mortgage rate. Remember that adjustable rates, despite their low interest rates, might not have the best mortgage rates. Adjustable rate mortgages only have low interest rates in their first year, after which, rates either tend to go up or go down.