Term deposits are deposits with specified maturity dates held by institutions eligible to receive interest on their balances at Federal Reserve Banks, but are separate and distinct from balances maintained in an institution’s master account at a Reserve Bank as well as from those maintained in an excess balance account. Term deposits are intended to facilitate the conduct of monetary policy by…

Ah, forget it!

Today, we aren’t really that interested in term deposits. We just wanted to draw a Christmas tree in a FRED graph.

How this graph was created: Search for this term deposits series and click “Add to Graph”; adjust the start date to May 2014; and under the “Edit Graph” menu, use the “Format” tab to change the line color and thickness. then, under the “Edit Graph” menu, go to the “Add Line” tab to the “Create user-defined line” option: Play with the coordinates (dates and y-axis values) to create the first line of the star. Continue to add user-defined lines as needed.

Suggested by Yvetta Fortova and Christian Zimmermann.