Have you metChad…lately?
FNMA 4.5% : Down 19 bps…poor showing and reception of a huge bond auction today partially to blame.
DOW: Picked up 6 points today after rebounding 245 points late in the session…WOW. Recovery credit going to rumors that a new program to help mortgagors going into foreclosure… Steep losses accredited to a general realization that the "stimulus" package does not seem to actually be focused on "stimulating" much…in the economy anyway. Remember: $4 billion was going to ACORN (community activist group caught registering dead voters…and voting for them to swing elections), 600 million for new cars going to government employees, 30 million to "Save the weed rat" among other interesting earmarks litter the bill. Don't get me wrong…there are some very worthwhile projects in the bill… Naturally…when some of these people "smell opportunity" like this: they move in quickly to staple a few extra pages in there with funding for their own "pet projects". This bad boy is over 1300 pages LONG at this point…WOW.
DJIA 7,932.76 -6.77 NASDAQ 1,541.71 +11.21 SP500 835.19 +1.45
Retail Sales report came out today showing an INCREASE in spending for January. This was a surprise with a 1% increase vs. a 0.3% decrease that was expected. Some of this is likely run-off from pent up spending after a conservative Christmas shopping season. (Funny how that works…kind of like a binge after a person has been "dieting"…) This is the first time in 7 months we have seen an increase here…and marks the best showing since November 2007.
Weekly Jobless Claims report showed 623,000 or so new claims for the week. More credence is actually given to the "four week moving average" of that number…which is 607,500…yow. By the number: it is the highest in 26 years… Perspective: since the NUMBER OF JOBS/PEOPLE IN THE WORKFORCE is HIGHER THAN EVER…this number needs to be examined for what it is. When expressed as a "percentage" of the workforce…unemployment levels are actually about where they were in the 90's.
NICE!!! Fed "purchasing habits" revealed today with the "spending report" released showing how the $500 billion of funds to be invested in the Mortgage Backed securities and bonds market is being appropriated. SO: in recent weeks…we have seen purchasing of 5.0% to 5.5% bonds…which support 5.5%-6% mortgages. This suggested that they were trying to support a ceiling of rates vs. driving rates down. We see this week that MUCH of the purchasing was in the 4.0% to 4.5% bond coupons…suggesting that rates are hopefully coming down. We did see that this week with the 30-year note back in the 5.0%-ish range.
Oil down again…closing out at 33.90/barrel.
Have a great eve!
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Chad Schauers
Have you metChad?
MetLife Home Loans
406.522.0922
406.522.0924 (fax)
1924 W. Stevens, Ste. 202
Bozeman, MT 59718
Cell: 406 799 8613
ccschauers@metlifehomeloans.com
