The spread between 30-year fixed mortgage rates and 10-year treasury yields hit its highest point in over a year in the week of February 25th, at 2.52%. Mortgage rates averaged 6.24% while treasuries closed Thursday at 3.72%. I have been tracking the spread between 10-year treasury yields and 3
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02/29/2008
(WARNING: this article is long and detailed, and ends with a lot of math. If you want something short and mathless, please visit my article about cell phone plans getting cheaper.)Last night, I lectured my Introduction to Financial Services class regarding several topics, one of which was the re
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02/27/2008
I attended the Sovereign Bank Economic Outlook Breakfast this morning at the Providence Westin. This is the 3rd year I've attended this event, and each year seems to bring a larger crowd. The event's purpose is to unveil the results of a survey conducted in the 4th quarter of the year among con
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02/27/2008
CNN this morning reported on a new "conundrum" faced by the Federal Reserve. Industry veterans will recall 2-3 years ago when then Fed Chief Alan Greenspan noted the unfathomable disconnect between bond yields and Fed rate moves. Now Ben Bernanke is faced with the prospect of his moves having a
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02/25/2008
Last week, we received word from one of our lenders regarding their interpretation of the new Jumbo mortgage rules included with the economic stimulus plan. Here's what will be happening:HUD will release Median Home Prices for the country within the next 30 daysConventional limits will increase
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02/25/2008
In a break from their old habits, major cellphone carriers Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile all announced new plans Thursday aimed squarely at people who use their phones a lot. Anybody on this site use their phone more than 2000 minutes? 2500? 5000? Under the new plan, Verizon and AT&T are offeri
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02/22/2008
I would like to share with you today a little bit of what we've been working on at Province over the last 4 weeks. We received approval from HUD to begin offering FHA mortgages in the middle of January, however, rather than beginning immediately to pursue applications for those loans, we investe
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02/18/2008
Good morning! This Presidents' Day is a wet and windy one here in Rhode Island. Today, in addition to a brief interest-rate market recap and preview, I thought I'd bring you a history of significant events in United States housing history, and the Presidents who effected those changes. In 1862,
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02/18/2008
Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson joined Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke in congress today, and said that they don't expect the US economy to experience a recession in 2008, rather they see slowing growth, with a total increase of 1.8% over the 2007 Gross Domestic Product increase. The market w
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02/14/2008
Last week held out my expectation that the market is looking to move long-term interest rates higher, as rates increased close to 0.25% from Monday to Friday. There was a substantial disappointment with service industry growth Tuesday, which led markets to open with lower rates, but as the day w
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02/11/2008
