Seattle Mortgage Rates Today 7/18/12
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 unwelcome economic data, Mr. Bernanke has yet to confirm the implementation of another round of easing.
In anticipation of the Fed Chair’s first testimony on Tuesday, markets reacted favoring bonds. However, with no hint of Quantitative Easing 3 (QE3), unpredictably, stocks rallied higher today. We need to understand that there is only so much that the Fed can do to “fix” the problem. Changes—both fiscal and structural—need to come from Congress. One problem the Fed faces is that Congress is indecisive and incapable of coming up with any type of solution. These being an election year, Congress will most likely not budge on any major changes until after the election. We may see the implementation of QE3 soon as the Fed may have no other choice but to do so. Again, the European recession plays a major role; we will need to be on the ready should Europe come crashing down sooner than expected.
Sentiment concerning rates hasn’t changed of late. In the short-term, lock ‘em if you got ‘em. Rates are at historic lows and even with day-to-day fluctuations; it’s still a good bet. If you have a month or two, continue to float as we have time to see what unravels in Europe.
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