From the monthly archives: June 2008

Mortgage Market Update – June 30, 2008

On June 30, 2008 By

The news over the weekend strongly reinforces our position taken last week after the Fed’s Interest Rate decision and, more importantly, the statements in their Policy Statement.

The Eurozone is seeing inflation that is roughly double its Year over Year comfort level. The European Central Bank (ECB) is unlike our Continue Reading →

Mortgage Market Update – June 27, 2008

On June 27, 2008 By

The Core Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) reading came in at .1% rather than .2% as expected. The PCE is the Fed’s favorite inflation measure and this leaves the year-over-year figure at 2.1%.

What’s this mean? Well, this is higher than the Fed would want, but tolerable given recent concerns. Keeping this in perspective, Oil [...]

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Mortgage Market Update – June 26, 2008

On June 26, 2008 By

Mortgage Bonds have followed through today and are trading slightly higher after yesterday’s rally.

In the news, Goldman Sachs downgraded all US broker to neutral from attractive. Jobless claims were higher than expected and the closely watched four-week average touched it’s highest levels in 32 months.

There are countless factors that influence Continue Reading →

Fed Funds Recap: The Fed, Oil, and You

On June 25, 2008 By

The left their benchmark rate, the Fed Funds Rate, at 2% today. We’ve been talking about this in the Daily Updates and this was consistent with expectations.

Immediately following, bonds dropped significantly but have since stabilized and are nearly [...]

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IHDA Rates Released – June 18, 2008 – Includes Grant

On June 25, 2008 By

Effective June 18, 2008, the Illinois Housing Development Authority will change its interest rates for the First-Time Homebuyer Program. The new rates for both “non-targeted” and “targeted” properties are as follows:

6.35% – 0 Points
6.20% – 1 Points
6.05% – 2 Points
5.90% – 3 Points

This change is for new reservations and [...]

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Mortgage Market Update – June 25, 2008 – FED DAY

On June 25, 2008 By

Stocks are currently up 20-25 points for both the Dow and S&P. New Home Sales came in exactly as expected. The FNMA 6.0% bond is currently trading down about 25 basis points which is right about the same level as yesterday’s gains.

All eyes are on the FOMC meeting where the Fed Funds Rate [...]

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Mortgage Market Update – June 24, 2008

On June 24, 2008 By

Mortgage bonds opened higher today on profit warnings from UPS and a shocker from Dow Chemical. They announced that they would need to raise prices by as much as 25% to react to skyrocketing energy costs.

We have an interesting divergence developing as the Fed opens its two-day meeting today. We are seeing pressures [...]

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Mortgage Market Update – June 23, 2008

On June 23, 2008 By

Mortgage bonds opened down just a bit this morning. With only Durable Goods on tap for tomorrow’s release and no economic reports scheduled for today, all eyes are starting to turn towards the Fed Open Market Committee meeting on Wednesday.

The 6.0% 30 Year FNMA bond traded up for much of the day on [...]

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Mortgage Market Update – June 20, 2008

On June 20, 2008 By

Mortgage bonds opened slightly higher today. When mortgage bond prices go up, go down.

We’re currently trading in a very wide range and it is safe to expect continued volatility through to next week’s Fed Open Market Committee.

Chicago mortgage rates are [...]

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Mortgage Market Update – June 19, 2008 – Intraday Update

On June 19, 2008 By

Since this morning’s update, inflation fears have jumped and brought liquidity fears to the forefront of the market. At this point, this morning’s concerns are materializing and we’re moving into a locking phase.

Fed Reserve Vice Chair Kohn says liquidity concerns, while contained, could come back. This comes on the heels of the Morgan [...]

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