economy: How To Know If You're Eligible For A Making Home Affordable Refinance - 04/07/09 07:55 PM
April 4, 2009, marked the official start of the Making Home Affordable refinance program.
Expected to help 5 million homeowners, the Making Home Affordable program "looks the other way" with respect to falling home values, approving mortgage applications based on borrower payment history and benefit to the homeowner.
Not every homeowner … (0 comments)
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economy: Why Credit Card Holders May Benefit from The Fed's Actions Today - 12/11/07 12:28 PM
The Federal Open Market Committee meets today and will release a public statement at 2:15 P.M. ET.
It is widely expected that the FOMC will lower the Fed Funds Rate by at least 0.250%.
When the FOMC lowers the Fed Funds Rate, it is trying to "loosen" credit for … (2 comments)
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economy: How Terrible Housing Data Can Actually Help Push Home Values Higher - 10/18/07 06:45 PM
Once again, the headlines may be misleading you. It's a good thing that Housing Starts dropped last month -- despite what the papers say.
A "housing start" is a new residence on which construction has started. Yesterday, the government released September 2007's Housing Starts data for the country.
There … (3 comments)
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economy: The Week In Review (October 9, 2007) : What to Watch For - 10/09/07 03:58 PM
As expected, the big news last week was the Non-Farms Payroll report. What wasn't expected, though, was the strength of the report. Mortgage rates ended the week on a large up-tick.
110,000 jobs were created in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This exceeded Wall Street expectations by … (1 comments)
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economy: How Today's Employment Data is Hurting Mortgage Rates - 10/05/07 09:32 AM
On the first Friday of each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its employment report for the United States.
Last month, the jobs report showed that the economy actually lost jobs for the first time since 2003. The total loss of jobs equaled 4,000 and contributed to the … (6 comments)
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economy: Have You Ever Wondered Where the Money Goes? - 10/04/07 09:55 AM
Where does your money go? If you're like most Americans, more than half of it goes towards housing and transportation alone.
This is according to the Consumer Expenditure Survey performed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The most recent study shows American household spending habits from 2005, but the … (7 comments)
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economy: The Week in Review (October 1, 2007) : What to Watch For - 10/01/07 11:30 AM
Even as home sales fall nationwide, the economy continues to move forward.
Year-over-year inflation as measured by Personal Consumption Expenditures registered 1.8%, well within the Fed's tolerance levels of 1-2% and suggesting that the economy is in "Goldilocks" mode -- not too hot and not too cold.
Many economists had … (2 comments)
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economy: Americans Will Spend $179 Million More on Gasoline Today than One Year Ago - 09/27/07 03:37 PM
Economists worry about rising oil prices because it tends to generate higher pump prices for Americans. With more money spent on gasoline, there's (theoretically) less money available to spend on goods and services.
Today, GasBuddy.com says that the average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline is $2.792, up … (16 comments)
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economy: What Happens on the National Real Estate Scene Shouldn't Matter to You - 09/26/07 05:05 PM
The National Association of Realtors® released its monthly Existing Home Sales report for August 2006 and, as usual, you should be ignoring it.
The report discusses real estate on a national level and we all know that real estate is a local phenomenon.
It's not that the report isn't helpful … (10 comments)
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economy: The Week In Review (September 24, 2007) : What To Watch For - 09/24/07 04:18 PM
In a semi-surprise move last week, the Federal Reserve lowered the Fed Funds Rate by 0.500%.
The Fed wants to prevent a dramatic economic slowdown that started in the housing sector and appears to be spilling over into other sectors now, too.
According to some pundits, the half-point FFR drop was … (2 comments)
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economy: Want More Proof that the Fed Doesn't Control Mortgage Rates? - 09/21/07 09:08 AM
For more proof that the Fed does not control mortgage rates, consider this:
In the immediate aftermath of the Fed's decision to lower the Fed Funds Rate by 0.50%, mortgage rates improved by about 0.25% on average.
But, in the two days since, mortgage rates have not only given back those … (8 comments)
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economy: How Prime Rate Relates to the Fed Funds Rate - 09/20/07 09:07 AM
Prime Rate is currently 7.750%.
Prime Rate is the "shorthand" name for the Wall Street Journal Prime Rate, a variable interest rate that is used in pricing many types of consumer loans.
These loans include:
Home equity lines of creditCredit card loansAuto loans Prime Rate's variable nature is tied to the … (7 comments)
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economy: Making English out of Fed-Speak (September) - 09/19/07 09:11 AM
The Fed lowered the Fed Funds Rate by 0.50% yesterday. A rate decrease was expected by most market participants, but the 50 basis points movement seemed to catch some players off-guard.
Mortgage rates dipped in the wake of the announcement, but the real winners are homeowners with balances on their home … (0 comments)
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economy: How the Fed Will Disappoint No Matter WHAT it Does Today - 09/18/07 08:54 AM
It's all eyes on the Fed today; the market anxiously awaits the central bank's 2:15 P.M. ET press release.
Some of the market bias towards a 0.50% rate cut has decreased in favor of a 0.25% cut. This shift is largely psychological.
Markets are trying to "get inside … (3 comments)
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economy: The Week in Review (September 17, 2007) : What to Watch For - 09/17/07 09:17 AM
The volatile path of mortgage rates last week followed the changing expectations for Tuesday's Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
The FOMC sets the Fed Funds Rate, a benchmark interest rate upon which Prime Rate is based.
According to Federal Funds Rate futures, there is a 94 percent chance that the … (4 comments)
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economy: What Would it Take for YOU to Feel the Pinch of Higher Gas Prices? - 09/14/07 08:48 AM
As crude oil crossed $80 a barrel Thursday, the Wall Street Journal ran an interactive poll with its readers.
What sustained price for gasoline would cause you to cut back on other household spending?
The graph above shows the on-going results of the non-scientific study. You can chime in, too, at http://forums.wsj.com/viewtopic.php?t=805.
… (10 comments)
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economy: What the Price of Gold Says about the Economy - 09/13/07 09:33 AM
Headlines today read that the value of gold is nearing its all-time high (adjusted for inflation). The lay people would ignore this story, but those in the know understand that the price of gold is usually reflective of the state of the global economy.
The spot price of gold tells a lot … (0 comments)
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economy: Why Mortgage Rates Fell BEFORE the September 18 Fed Meeting - 09/12/07 06:02 PM
Mortgage rates "come from" one place only: the prices of mortgage bonds as determined by investors.
The higher the price, the lower the corresponding return, or rate.
Bonds -- like stocks -- are traded as securities. An investor may buy Microsoft stock if he thought the company's future looked bright, … (8 comments)
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economy: The Week In Review (September 10, 2007) : What To Watch For - 09/10/07 09:30 AM
Weak employment data pushed mortgage rates lower last week. Against expectations of 110,000 new jobs created in August, last Friday's Non-Farm Payrolls report showed a loss of 4,000 jobs.
The story made headlines all over the country this weekend but its connection to mortgage rates is not always clear. Here's how … (2 comments)
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economy: How Today's Jobs Report Impacts Mortgage Rates - 09/07/07 10:15 AM
This morning, the government reported that the U.S. economy lost 4,000 jobs in August. Led by losses in manufacturing and construction, this is the first time since 2003 that the economy has failed to add jobs in any given month.
Markets had been expecting a job gain of roughly 110,000, but … (4 comments)
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