GDP Results On Target, Quantitative Easing Speculation Dominates Markets
October 29, 2010 by Dan Hartman · 2 Comments
The Commerce Department reported on growth in US GDP this morning, indicating that the economy grew at a modest pace of 2.0% in the third quarter. This matched analyst expectations prior to the report, but added more fuel to the bonfire of speculation that has erupted around next week’s Federal Reserve Open Markets Committee meeting.
GDP Growth Revised Slightly Higher, Unemployment Claims Edge Lower – Daily Mortgage Rate Update for September 30th, 2010
September 30, 2010 by Dan Hartman · 1 Comment
At last week’s Fed meeting, the Open Markets Committee announced its intention to provide more support to the economy through a channel widely referred to as “quantitative easing” if it felt that necessary. Late last week, and earlier this week, there has been substantial market chatter about this probability. Yesterday, though, the presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks of Philadelphia and Boston spoke, and their words left substantially more unclear the criteria under which the Fed might actually act.
Rates Off of Last Week’s Lows on European Weakness, Banking Regulations – Daily Mortgage Rate Update for September 14th, 2010
September 14, 2010 by Dan Hartman · 2 Comments
Mortgage pricing improved throughout the day Monday, clawing back a substantial portion of the prior week’s losses, as a rare double-rally occurred in which both bond and stock assets were favored. Normally, a phenomenon often referred to as the “stock lever” causes one class’ improvement to come at the cost of declining values in the other, however this was not the case yesterday. Instead, gains in stocks were largely driven by surges in bank shares, as traders saw the new banking regulations as favorable. Meanwhile bond and mortgage assets were buoyed by a completely different phenomenon – they were completely oversold last week, meaning that yesterday presented an attractive buying opportunity.
Dip in Unemployment Claims Could Lead to Rising Rates, Maybe – Daily Mortgage Rate Update for September 9th, 2010
September 9, 2010 by Dan Hartman · Leave a Comment
Much of the chatter is that this represents a solid reversal of recent trends towards higher claims figures, but I feel this is more reflective of the manic-depressive nature of Wall St. That is to say, regardless of the type of information received, or of the significance of that information, it is either fantastically good or devastatingly bad, with no in-between. Yes, today’s dip in jobless claims is a positive sign, but it’s the first report below 470,000 in since July 29th. Is a single positive-trending report enough that we should dance around in euphoria?
GDP Growth Revised Down; New Record Low Mortgage Rate: 4.36% – Daily Mortgage Rate Update for August 27th, 2010
August 27, 2010 by Dan Hartman · 2 Comments
The Commerce Department announced the first revision of its 2nd quarter GDP results, lowering its earlier estimate for growth to 1.6% from the advanced estimate of 2.4%. This lower revision was still higher than analysts had expected; they had called for a revision down to 1.4%. Many had expected the downward revision after a large number of disappointing economic reports recently.
Jobless Claims Dip, But How Low is Too Low a Rate? – Daily Mortgage Rate Update for August 26th, 2010
August 26, 2010 by Dan Hartman · 1 Comment
Today’s employment data is significant, as it highlights the job market that will come under intense focus next week. Remember that the first Friday of each month brings the monthly employment situation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, commonly known as the jobs report. Next week’s report should be even more influential than others recently, as it will be free of distortion that has been caused by the recent hiring and subsequent layoff of almost 500,000 temporary census workers.
GDP Results Miss Expectations; New Low for 30-year Fixed – Daily Mortgage Rate Update for July 30th, 2010
July 30, 2010 by Dan Hartman · 1 Comment
The 30-year fixed rate mortgage set a new record low this week, according to Freddie Mac. Rates averaged just 4.54%, beating out recent lows by a few hundredths of a percent. While refinancing makes sense for many homeowners at these rates, some are finding they are unable due to more difficult underwriting requirements, or lower home values.
BP Might Have Stopped Its Bleeding; How About Europe’s Banks? – Daily Mortgage Market Update for July 19th, 2010
July 19, 2010 by Dan Hartman · 2 Comments
Bear in mind that thousands upon thousands of housing units were built towards the end of the housing bubble that have never been occupied.
