Seattle Mortgage Rates Today 7/23/12: “’Uh-oh,’ said Greece to Spain.” Dire news that Greece may not be able to reach the terms of their bailout has markets in a tizzy. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) may stop aid to Greece. Should that be the case, Greece may well be on their way to default come […]
Seattle Mortgage Rates Today 7/20/12: “The Spanish Inquisition…er, I mean, arbitration?” Guess who’s not happy right now? The Spanish! After German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Lower House (Bundestag) approved aid for Spain, it seemed the euro zone was on the right track in mitigating the spread of the debt crisis. However, the citizens of […]
Seattle Mortgage Rates Today 7/19/12: “QE3, can you hear me now?” Reports of weak economic data continue to support the Fed implementation of Quantitative Easing 3 (QE3). Although we do not know when easing may take place, stocks are rallying higher just as they did when QE2 was anticipated then implemented. Again, stocks were on […]
Seattle Mortgage Rates Today 7/18/12: “Whatcha talkin’ ‘bout, Benny B?” In his semi-annual testimony yesterday, Fed Chair Ben Bernanke addressed the Senate Finance Committee re-affirming that the unemployment rate is high due to slow growth and the economic climate is still weak. Exacerbating US growth is the continued uncertainty plaguing Europe. Given the string of […]
Seattle Mortgage Rates Today 7/17/12: Caution is in the wind as investors await Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to offer his testimony to the Senate Banking Committee for the semi-annual monetary policy report. Hints of another round of easing were put at bay; stock prices fell slightly upon delivery this news. What Benny B is […]
Seattle Mortgage Rates Today 7/16/12: “Is the economy slowing even further?” Although analysts expected a slight increase, retail sales for June reported another drop. Since April, retail sales have fallen; this is the longest string of falling sales since the beginning of the recession in 2008. Sales have declined to .5% reflected throughout a plethora […]
Seattle Mortgage Rates Today 7/13/12: “It’s Friday, the 13th! Do you know where your mortgage rates are?” There is not much to report today as mortgage bonds are trading near the same levels as yesterday. Rates remain stable and at historic lows as the global sentiment surrounding the crisis in the Euro Zone continues its […]
Seattle Mortgage Rates Today 7/12/12: “Where have all the €uros gone?” The deteriorating economic health of the Euro Zone was quite evident as the European Central Bank (ECB) reduced its main interest rate to a record low of 0.75% from 1%. In order to encourage banks to lend money the ECB also lowered its overnight […]
Seattle Mortgage Rates Today 7/11/12: “If only I had a crystal ball…” Spain has been pressured to accept new austerity measures from EU Finance Ministers that are intended to reduce their deficit by €65BN by the end of 2014. It sounds like an impossible feat, but they have no other choice. With 24.4% unemployment, the […]
Seattle Mortgage Rates Today 7/6/12: “’The sky is falling! The sky is falling!’ said the Jobs Report.” Today’s release of the much anticipated Jobs Report was dismal to say the least. The reported 80,000 private jobs created came in much lower than the expected 105,000 according to last Wednesday’s ADP Report. Exacerbating the dire state […]
