Rate Update & Market Preview Rates are down about .125% from last week as mortgage bonds rallied on weak retail sales, benign consumer inflation, and well-received Treasury auctions. The extent of the bond rally would suggest lower rates, but lenders are holding the line on pricing to see if the rally holds next week. When
January 2010
Yesterday President Obama proposed a 10-year fee on large financial services firms to make sure taxpayers are repaid for the TARP and other massive assistance the government provided to those firms during the heat of the credit crisis in 2008. The fee is intended to raise about $90b over the next 10 years, and according
This was week 54 of a mortgage bond purchase program by the Federal Reserve—here’s week 53. From January 7 to January 13, the Fed bought $14b net of mortgage bonds. This is just above the weekly low for the entire program set two weeks ago with $9.3b in net buys. Below is a breakdown of
The US Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation at the consumer level of the economy, was little changed at 0.1% in December and 2.7% year-over-year through December. Excluding volatile oil and food costs from the readings, “Core” CPI for December was 0.1% and 1.8% YOY through December. You can automatically create charts and download historical
JP Morgan Chase Profit Quadruples The FBI is investigating a possible cyber attack on Citigroup. This is a serious issue, because next time the hackers might target a bank that actually has money. (Just kidding!) But seriously folks, JPMorgan Chase & Co., the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, announced this morning that its fourth-quarter profit
Missed this Saturday Night Live skit until now. It’s short and sweet.
Housing Markets After Government Help Ends There is no one that will disagree with the statement that the mortgage markets benefited from government intervention last year. And practically everyone believes that, given the significant challenges housing is facing, the government will stay focused and do whatever it takes to support the market. For this reason,
The CEOs of Goldman, Bank Of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley went before the Congressional Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission today to revisit what happened during the heat of the financial crisis in 2008. Yesterday the NYT published a good list of questions that should be asked. Some are populist propaganda, but many are
Denver Pot Club Fun Fact According to news sources in Denver, where the City Council voted to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries, more applications have been received for licenses for selling pot than there are Starbucks coffee shops in the entire state, 390 versus 208. Fun with numbers… Mortgage Volume Projections for 2010 There seems to
Fed Bought 73% of All Agency MBS In 2009 Here’s something to ponder: Given the production statistics, in the past year the Fed has purchased 73% of the mortgages that government-backed Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae have turned into securities. Nervous about the end of March, when the Fed plans/expects to end its
A common question among mortgage shoppers is: what if rates get better after I lock a rate for my loan? The answer is that locking a rate is much like buying a stock. When you choose to buy a stock at a specified price, you’re executing a Limit Order. This means you set the price
First Bank Failure of 2010 The first bank to fail this year is Horizon Bank (WA), with 18 branches that are now being run by Washington Federal Savings and Loan Association, who also assumed all of Horizon’s $1.1 billion of deposits. More On Friday’s Jobs Report As you can imagine, the economists spent the weekend
Since sending the WeeklyBasis 2010 Rate Outlook this Monday (as opposed to normal Friday delivery), rates are still holding. See below for current levels as of the end of mortgage bond trading today. Now onto the critical alert for the week: Homebuyers intending to use FHA loans to finance condo purchases should be advised that
This was week 53 of a mortgage bond purchase program by the Federal Reserve—here’s weeks 51-52. Between December 31 and January 6, the Fed bought $12b net of mortgage bonds. This is just above the weekly low for the entire program set last week with $9.3b in net buys. Below is a breakdown of buying
This was week 53 of a mortgage bond purchase program by the Federal Reserve—here’s weeks 51-52. Between December 31 and January 6, the Fed bought $12b net of mortgage bonds. This is just above the weekly low for the entire program set last week with $9.3b in net buys. Below is a breakdown of buying
The Bureau of Labor Statistics non-farm payroll report showed that the economy lost 85,000 private sector jobs in December, and November was revised to a positive 4,000 jobs. This means 23 of the last 24 months have shown losses, putting the job loss toll since January 2008 at 7.24 million, which is the largest drop
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