Rate Update January 5, 2009

Fixed mortgage remain unchanged from Friday.  

 Today marks the beginning of the first full week of trading in 2009.  We are hoping that the Fed’s planned purchase of Mortgage Backed securities through June of this year will keep bonds on the upward rise that they have started the past month and a half. 

 In case you missed it; the stock market was down a bit last year.  Are stocks poised to rally during the first quarter of 2009?  If so…typically this would be bad news for bonds but with the announcement of the Fed to buy so much in Mortgage Backed securities, the impact may not be as great.  This would be good news for everyone as stocks and bonds would see increase in value.

 The Fed will report how much they have purchased of these Mortgage Backed securities every Thursday.  This will of course be something we keep a close eye on in the months to come and it will be interesting to see if any trading patterns materialize from the weekly announcements.  

 The bond market is trading up slightly on the day and we remain in a cautiously floating position.

 Current outlook: floating