Get in touch with your inner Dude with a round of Big Lebowski Monopoly. Click image for full size board. Thanks to Achiever JMH for sending.
March 2011
According to a story in the Financial Times, “The five biggest US mortgage servicers were told this week at a private meeting with regulators to consider paying delinquent borrowers up to $21,000 each as part of a broader settlement of the foreclosure crisis…The industry-wide “cash for keys” program would involve the biggest servicers paying borrowers
Stocks are up today (Dow +73, S&P +8) as global growth sentiment outweighs the “not-a-war” in Libya, fiscal crisis in Europe, Japan’s earthquake aftermath, and declining consumer sentiment. Bonds are slightly higher (10yr Note +3 basis points, FNMA 30yr 4% coupon +12 basis points) despite the stock rally and hawkish inflation statements from two Fed
Stocks are up today (Dow +73, S&P +8) as global growth sentiment outweighs the “not-a-war” in Libya, fiscal crisis in Europe, Japan’s earthquake aftermath, and declining consumer sentiment. Bonds are slightly higher (10yr Note +3 basis points, FNMA 30yr 4% coupon +12 basis points) despite the stock rally and hawkish inflation statements from two Fed
The third of three 4Q2010 GDP readings this morning was revised up to +3.1% from the last reading of 2.8%. Below is a chart from CalculatedRisk showing quarterly GDP growth over the last 30 years. Current quarter in blue, dashed line is median GDP growth rate of 3.05%. Click chart for full size.
Here’s an interesting Fed report titled Surveying the Aftermath of the Storm: Changes in Family Finances from 2007 to 2009. Highlights (or more like “lowlights”): the average American family’s household wealth was -23% from 2007 to 2009. The report said that income was down, the average person lost one-third of value of their equity portfolio
This great home price chart from VisualizingEconomics (via Barry Ritholtz) speaks for itself, but below chart is a description from VisualizingEconomics clarifying whether a home seller should be looking at inflation adjusted (real) versus not inflation adjusted (nominal) prices. Click for full size. A $10,000 house in 1890 would be worth almost the same in
Below is a table showing fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week, and the number is also lower than last month and last year. The official March report next Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics will give a more official signal about actual new jobs added and the unemployment rate, but for now
Thirty-year rates are up .125% since Friday to 4.875% with zero points. Rates for loans above $417,000 and condos are higher. Weak U.S. new home sales data and Europe’s ongoing debt crisis have helped U.S. mortgage bonds rally in the past year, pushing rates down, but inflation is becoming the primary concern for bonds, which
What am I hearing out there? I am hearing, not officially, that wholesale reps are having trouble drumming up business from brokers. Total industry production estimates for 2011 are down 30% from 2010’s levels, but applications are holding in pretty well – maybe loans are coming in through retail channels. In fact the MBA reported
In the TD Ameritrade retirement services commercial below, the firm’s “Nest Egg Ninjas” try to get your assets to manage. Memo to ad execs or anyone else anyone trying to be “hip” with ninja references: the only time a ninja reference is cool is if you’re referring to actual ninjas. And the only time it’s
After Treasury said yesterday it would sell its $142 billion MBS portfolio at a $10b per month pace over the next year, below are key stats on the MBS market overall and also the Treasury program. -Treasury expects to make about $15 billion in profits. –Sterne Agee noted that $10 billion is slightly more than
Rates are up .125% today after Treasury said it would start selling it’s $142b mortgage bond portfolio this month at a rate of $10b per month. Mortgages were down more than 50 basis points on the initial news, and are now only down 22 bps. Traders are realizing that the Fed’s MBS holdings represent the
Rates are up .125% today after Treasury said it would start selling it’s $142b mortgage bond portfolio this month at a rate of $10b per month. Mortgages were down more than 50 basis points on the initial news, and are now only down 22 bps. Traders are realizing that the Fed’s MBS holdings represent the
Last Thursday, while on a tour of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, my son and I met and chatted with CNBC futures reporter Rick Santelli. I told him that I was there to speak at a Fannie Mae regional meeting, he launched into a dissertation about how better off the mortgage industry would be if the
Last Thursday, while on a tour of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, my son and I met and chatted with CNBC futures reporter Rick Santelli. I told him that I was there to speak at a Fannie Mae regional meeting, he launched into a dissertation about how better off the mortgage industry would be if the
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