Current Mortgage Rates: What Effect Does the Federal Reserve Really Have?

What can the Federal Reserve really do to effect the current mortgage rate?

Not as much as you think. Everyone gets excited when they hear something about the Fed lowering interest rates. They automatically think that means current mortgage rates are immediately going lower too.

A mortgage interest rate is not the same [...]

How soon can the stimulus bill come into effect to lower the mortgage rates?

Ive read that the stimulus bill will help the mortgage loans by offering higher tax rebates and lowering mortgage rates to 4%. How soon will we see this happen?