Dec - 19th
US Mortgage Applications Fell Last Week
Posted at 1:20 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)
Mortgage Applications Decrease In Latest MBA Weekly Survey
WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 19, 2007) — The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 14, 2007. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 653.8, a decrease of 19.5 […]
Dec - 12th
More mortgage applications doesn’t mean higher demand for housing
Posted at 10:39 am | Filed Under Uncategorized
Like this CNBC article explains, the numbers reported today that U.S. mortgage applications rose last week to the highest level since July 2005, don’t mean that the housing market is stabilizing. It actually mind mean that getting a mortgage is getting tougher out there.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of mortgage applications rose by a seasonally […]
Nov - 28th
More layoffs in the financial sector: Bear Stearns cuts 4% of its work force
Posted at 1:47 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized
CNBC just reported.
Bear Stearns on Wednesday said it would cut 650 jobs — about 4 percent of its global workforce — as the investment bank seeks to lower costs after losing bets on risky subprime mortgages.
Nov - 28th
Mortgage rates are not going down even as bond rates collapse
Posted at 12:46 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized
They conforming loan rates (less than 417K) have come down a little bit over the last few weeks but Jumbo loan rates have not come down.
The short answer is “nobody wants to lend money”. Banks are having a hard time selling their mortgage backed securities to investors and therefore, they must charge higher rates to […]
Nov - 21st
More layoffs in the mortgage industry
Posted at 11:14 am | Filed Under Uncategorized
Orange County, California was the epicenter of the subprime mortgages in the days of the housing boom. Now, those same mortgage companies are laying off thousands of employees and the Southern California economy is feeling the pain.
The Orange County Register has an excellent article telling the stories of several mortgage workers who are now looking […]
Nov - 20th
Is Countrywide collapsing?
Posted at 5:39 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized
It certainly looks that way. According to AP
Shares of Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation’s largest mortgage lender, sank more than 14 percent Tuesday amid concerns that troubles at government-backed mortgage banks could squeeze mortgage lenders’ access to funding.
The company’s shares fell $1.50, or 14.2 percent, to $9.07 in afternoon trading. At one point, the stock […]
Nov - 20th
More losses in the mortgage industry: Freddie Mac
Posted at 1:33 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized
We keep seeing more and more financial companies coming out with mortgage related losses due to the subprime problem but it is not just subprime, the problems are spreading to Alt-A and even conforming loans. Now it is Freddie Mac’s turn.
The USA Today reports the following:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Freddie Mac (FRE), the nation’s second-largest buyer […]
Nov - 15th
Europe gets hit by the U.S. subprime mess
Posted at 11:05 am | Filed Under Uncategorized
England, Germany, and other countries in Europe get impacted by the losses in the U.S. subprime market. In another example of irrational exuberance, Europeans wanted a piece of the American booming market. Of course, they failed to look at the potential risks and they are not looking a big losses. They got greedy and they […]
Nov - 8th
Another bubble brewing: Gold hits new high
Posted at 5:01 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized
Marketwatch reports
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Gold futures surged to finish at a record closing high of $837.50 an ounce on Thursday, topping the previous session’s record by $4.
The yellow metal was boosted by the dollar’s fall against major rivals after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the weaker dollar is a key inflation risk.
Gold […]
Nov - 6th
New all-time high for oil: $97 a barrel
Posted at 12:53 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized
AP is reporting that “oil futures jumped to a record $97 a barrel Tuesday after bombings in Afghanistan and an attack on a Yemeni oil pipeline compounded supply concerns that have driven crude prices higher in recent weeks.”
Other energy futures also rose Tuesday. December gasoline futures jumped 6.79 cents to $2.449 a gallon on the […]
