Portfolio manager Axel Merk tells USA Today that the Federal Reserve (Fed) rate cut is not working.

" 'Good luck waiting for that rally,' says Axel Merk, manager of the Merk Hard Currency fund. He says investors are concluding that the Fed's tool to treat the ailing housing market and jittery markets isn't working.

'Lower rates don't help the folks who need the money,' says Merk, adding that the crisis won't end until prices for homes and securities backed by mortgages gone bad come down to realistic levels. "