Seattle Mortgage Rate Today 1/7/13:  “Have mortgage bond prices bottomed out?”  After several days of falling mortgage bonds last week resulting from Federal Reserve members remarking that Quantitative Easing 3 should end this year, bonds are attempting to stabilize.  Although stocks have climbed to an all-time high, investors cashed in their gains today as news of the “fiscal cliff” deal last week injected confidence in the market.  As companies begin to release their fourth quarter numbers, investors will diligently study data to assist them in making their next move.  Analysts do not expect much improvement over the third quarter’s earnings.

On another note, Bank of America agreed to a settlement with Fannie Mae to the tune of $11.6 billion in order to quench any additional claims by Fannie Mae that B of A sold them bad loans.  B of A will pay FNMA $3.6 billion and buy back $6.75 billion worth of bad loans that resulted from Countrywide Financial before 2008.  Attempting to reduce its expenses, B of A sold mortgage servicing rights to two other banks; currently mortgage servicing comprises almost 15% of Bank of America’s total employment.

As the stocks fall and the bond market recovers, a cautiously floating stance is recommended.  Knee-jerk reaction to a volatile market should be avoided.