I usually don’t blog too often about politics or macro-economic issues but I came across this article in Barron’s written by Gene Epstein and wanted to share it with some of my friends and family. For me, I have always placed a higher priority on a politician’s stance on taxes than on their stance regarding […]
A colleague of mine here at Mortgage Trust put together the following guide for home buyers who are entering into a short sale purchase. The content appears to have come from standard Oregon earnest money agreement addendums but I still think it is an excellent summary of all the considerations a home buyer should be made […]
According to this article on bloomberg.com banks continue to tighten their lending standards. The measurement in which this article focuses on are derivatives which are priced to reflect the market’s expectation of future spreads between the Fed’s daily effective Federal Funds Rate and the rate at which banks are actually lending money. When spreads increase it is […]
Mortgage rates are essentially unchanged today. Worse than expected economic news out of Europe is helping the US dollar rally versus other currencies right now. A stronger US dollar has an anti-inflationary impact because it effectively makes the foreign imports we purchase less expensive. From a technical standpoint mortgage-backed bonds are trading in between the […]
Mortgage rates are modestly lower today as mortgage-backed bonds trade inversely with the stock market. Mortgage rates are benefiting from a “flight-to-quality” which I explain in today’s you tube video which can be viewed here- Later this week the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) report is scheduled to be released which is an extremely important piece […]
In his speech to the worlds most powerful central bankers today Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke briefly about inflation according to this NY Times article. From the article, “Mr. Bernanke, while acknowledging ‘an increase in inflationary pressure,’ reasserted his view that in the near future, the upswing in inflation from the oil and food shocks […]
I often reference “mortgage-backed bonds” (AKA MBS’s) in my daily rate updates. If you follow rate update consistently then you know that when MBS prices fall interest rates rise and vice versa. The WSJ published a story today regarding investor confidence in high-quality MBS’s and how they remain attractive for bond investor guru Bill Gross […]
Mortgage rates moved modestly higher this morning as we had predicted in yesterday’s ‘rate update’. Yesterday mortgage-backed bonds reversed lower yesterday on technical trading patterns as well as pressure from higher oil prices. (Reminder: mortgage rates move inversely with mortgage-backed bond prices.) Today mortgage backed bonds have opened up the day trading down at important […]
Rates are modestly lower this morning. Yesterday mortgage-backed bonds were able to rally in the afternoon thanks to the factors outlined in yesterday’s ‘rate update’. However, these factors may be overshadowed by rising oil prices. Oil prices have bounced off recent lows of $111/ barrel and are now trading up near $120. Higher oil prices […]