Country first. If only for a moment.
George W Bush
About 15 months ago actor Kal Penn joined the White House Office of Public Engagement, and 2 months ago he returned to Hollywood to make a third installment of the “Harold & Kumar” cult-favorite stoner movie series. In the last installment of the movie, Penn’s character Kumar smoked a joint with George W. Bush. And
Funny or Die has taken the activist route by adding a ‘contact your senator’ message at the end of this hilarious video where the last 5 ex-presidents (as portrayed by Saturday Night LIve actors) visit Obama to give financial reform advice. So have a laugh then bug your Senator.
President-elect Barack Obama spent $740.6 million to get elected president in 2008, which was more than the $646.7 million George W. Bush AND John Kerry spent combined in 2004, and 44% of all money spent by candidates in 2008. In total, candidates spent $1.7 billion on the 2008 election campaign. Here are more excerpts from
Fixed and ARM rates for loans up to $729k are even since last week, ending several weeks of .5% price swings. Rates on loans from $729k to $1m are also about even. Rates on loans above $1m are not shown below because that pricing is truly custom based on client profiles. Only a few lenders
In the midst of a crisis, there’s rarely time to question what caused the crisis. But it’s useful to know who helped get markets to where they are so we can avoid mistakes as we get through the triage and begin formulating policy solutions. Below are two stories that discuss a key player in the
The AP reported today that the White House is pressing banks who’ve received Treasury funds to stop hoarding it and start lending it. Under the Troubled Asset Relief Plan (TARP), Treasury has given out about $150b of $250b to about 24 banks—here’s the latest list of banks and amounts. So far not much of that
President Bush last week said publicly that “Wall Street got drunk … and now it’s got a hangover. The question is how long it will sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments.” Not since President Camacho referred to the economy as the eco-mony in his state of the union speech
As owners continue to walk away from their homes because of loans they can’t afford, foreclosures rose to .83% of all outstanding mortgages for the end of 2007. This is versus .54% for 2006. This has contributed to a rapid fall in home prices. The central bank estimates that home values decreased by $533 billion
Fixed rates are even versus last week and ARM rates open the week down .125% from last Monday, but the volatility continues with rate swings of up to .375% on any given day. This is proof that credit markets are still not functioning properly, and that’s the topic on Capitol Hill Thursday when Fed Chairman
The Senate finally signed off on the economic stimulus package which includes tax rebates to individuals, tax benefits for business and conforming loan limits up to $729,750 depending on median home prices in a given area. The higher limits were expected to run through 2008, and go into effect as soon as late-February. Now it
Fixed and ARM rates are about .125% higher since last Monday, but volatility continues, and rates have swung up and down as much as .375% on individual trading days. Last week, the Fed continued its commitment to “reduce tensions in bank lending” (as opposed to being a slave to markets as some claim) by cutting
Hi everyone, welcome to my first WeeklyBasis of 2007. There’s not much spread between longer-term fixed and shorter-term ARM rates. This is because the Fed Funds Rate – an overnight rate that’s a benchmark for shorter-term loans – is currently higher than mortgage and Treasury bond yields which serve as benchmarks for longer-term loans. The
Rates open even this week despite a barrage of news and data last week including a Presidential speech, a new Fed Chairman, the 14th Fed rate hike in 19 months, and a slew of big economic reports. It was a volatile week as predicted and rates were higher as of Friday, but concerns about America’s
Rates are up about .125% since my last market report on October 10 (I was off last Monday). In the last report, I said rates may increase as we head toward the holidays, and this still holds. Energy prices are still high, and giving consumers less expendable income. As it gets colder, this price pressure
The rate snapshot below is for reference for the week of September 15, 2003. Rates this week are holding at about 0.25% lower than in recent weeks. On a $600k loan, this is about $100 per month in savings. No rate moves are expected from Tuesday’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The next three months
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