As I’ve told many people the stars are currently aligned for first-time home-buyers. Grant it, there is a lot of uncertainty and anxiety amongst US workers right now and if the potential for job loss is high it would NOT be a good plan to buy a home. However, for those who feel secure in […]
Last week I blogged about Warren Buffett’s purchase of preferred stock in Goldman Sachs. Today it was announced that Berkshire Hathaway (the investment firm that Buffett chairs) has reached an agreement to purchase $3 billion in preferred stock in GE. Again I say, if Warren Buffett is jumping in now we have to be near […]
Mortgage rates are modestly higher this morning in response to yesterday’s rally in the stock market (click here to learn how stocks can impact mortgage rates). This morning stocks have reversed back lower as anxiety looms over the government’s financial bailout plan. The Senate is expected to vote on and pass a revised version of […]
Mortgage rates benefited from yesterday’s “blood bath” in the equity markets. Following the failure of the $700 billion bailout plan to pass the House of Representative’s stocks sank. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 800 points which is more than it did after September 11th. The NASDAQ stock exchange had its 3rd worst day […]
How important do the markets think the financial bailout is? On news that the $700 billion financial rescue plan got voted down in the House of Representatives th Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by almost 800 points. To put that in perspective, when the markets opened following September 11th the Dow Jones dropped 644 points.
The Economist featured this great article today about the fact that not only financial firms but businesses and individual households will be forced to deleverage over the course of the next few years. Among the points that I found interest in: *In the near term delveraging of banks, hedge funds, and households will likely depress […]
Rates are modestly better this morning but let’s remember that for the past week rates have been pushed higher. There is a lot to talk about this morning in the financial markets. Ordinarily inflation expectations are the primary factor that drives mortgage rates. The fact that this morning’s Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) report indicated worse […]
Brett Arends wrote this terrific article for the WSJ.com analyzing the true cost of the $700 billion bailout. Based on his analysis the true cost of the bailout is equal to, “one-third of 1% of our annual gross domestic product.” I strongly believe we need to get this bailout done. Here is a link to […]
WSJ.com wrote this great article about the number of 20-30 year old’s who are abandoning their 401K plans at work because of the turmoil in the markets. This is unfortunate. I don’t know when the stock market will turn around but I am willing to bet my life savings that by the time I am […]
I found this article on Inman news which is disturbing. According to the article 15% of US homeowners carry mortgage payments which are at least 50% of their gross monthly income. Let’s look at the math on this: Let’s take a household that makes $75,000 per year. This translates to $6,250 per month. Monthly gross […]