The Fed lowered the Fed Funds Rate by a quarter-percent to 2.000% this afternoon. Because it is tied to the Fed Funds Rate, Prime Rate also fell by a quarter-percent. Prime Rate is now 5.000%. Holders of home equity lines of credit and credit card debt benefited from the change and will see lo
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04/30/2008
RealtyTrac released Q1 2008 foreclosure statistics and the data follows an interesting statistical phenomenon most commonly known as the "80/20 Rule". The 80/20 Rule states that 80 percent of the effects come from 20 percent of the causes. In this case, 80 percent of bank repossessions in the fir
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04/29/2008
Mortgage markets lost ground last week on inflation concerns and a general feeling that "the worst may be over" on Wall Street. As investors moved money into the stock market, mortgage rates ticked higher for the second straight week. The biggest story from last week was the rising cost of gasol
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04/28/2008
More than 130 million Americans will receive tax rebates this year as part of Congress' $168 billion economic stimulus package. Payments begin in about two weeks and range from $600 for individuals to $1,200 for couples, plus an additional $300 per child. Not everyone is eligible for a full reba
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04/24/2008
It Doesn't Matter That The Median Home Sale Price Rose In March 2008The National Association of REALTORS released its Existing Home Sales report for March 2008. An "existing home" is one that is not considered new construction. A sub-headline in the report showed that the median sales price of
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04/23/2008
Credit scoring is becoming more important to mortgage pricing so now would be a terrific time to brush up on your credit education. If you understand how the system works, after all, you can make it work to your advantage. One terrific place to start your research is at myFICO.com. Published by c
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04/20/2008
Every two years, the Jump$tart Coalition issues a "personal finance" exam to high school seniors.The test highlights the importance of personal financial literacy among America's youth and comes at an especially important juncture. Many experts -- including Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke -- believe t
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04/10/2008
In three weeks, the Federal Open Market Committee will meet again and markets anticipate another cut to the Fed Funds Rate. Based on data compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland at the close of business yesterday, traders put the probabilities of the Fed's next move at: 62 percent chan
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04/09/2008
News sources like to use the term "credit crunch" in describing the U.S. economy, but they rarely define what a credit crunch is and what it means for Americans. A credit crunch is when the amount of available loans suddenly decreases over a very short period of time. Usually, it follows a perio
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04/08/2008
Mortgage loan rates edged lower last week, buoyed by a weak employment report for March. After shedding 80,000 jobs last month, the number of working Americans is lower by 232,000 so far this year. Many pundits are claiming these figures are proof of a U.S. economic recession but it's importan
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04/07/2008
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