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Weekend Market Update

Jan. 9-10, 2010

While mortgage rates trended upward for most of December, rates moderated in the first full week of January on speculation that the Fed will extend its program of buying mortgage-backed securites. Treasuries were being bought on Friday on government data that job losses was worse than expected. Bad news about the economy is generally good news for bonds, Treasuries and mortgage-backed secuites as investors put money into those instruments on expectations that a sluggish economy will bear low inflation.

The U.S. Labor Department reported that 85,000 non-farm jobs were lost in December, while analysts had expected better. The news underscored the depth of unemployment, which is hanging at 10%, although a more realistic rate of unemployment would be higher as Americans who have been unemployed for a long time do not count on this report's radar.

Job growth for every decade since 1939 has been in the range of 20%-39%---except for the 10-year period that ended with 2009, which ended essentially unchanged, according to Chart of the Day (http://www.chartoftheday.com/20100108.htm?T).

The Federal Reserve's program of buying mortgages is set to end in March, which may have pushed rates up in December as traders dwelled on the drying-up of that source. However, in recently released minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's last session, the monetary decision makers are hinting that they may have to continue the program to prop up housing. That information correlated with mortgage rates settling back down this week as demand for Treasuries and mortgage-backeds was up.

This sounds like a mantra, but mortgage interest rates remain in the range of historic lows. If you have an opportunity to purchase a home or investment property or to refinance and get cash out (or not), you owe it to yourself to call me to show you the best options. Real estate prices remain depressed with many foreclosures still needing to be worked out of inventories. This condition will not last forever, just as neither will the $8,000 credit for first-time buyers and the $6,500 gift from Uncle Sam for buyers who are not first-timers. Call me to see if you quality for these programs.

30-Year Conventional Fixed

4.875% $100,000-$417,000


FHA-100% VA

5.25% $100,000-$393,300


100% Guaranteed Rural Housing w/no MI

5.5% $100,000-$417,000

30-Year Jumbo 5/1 ARM (15% down, No MI)

5% $417,001-$900,000

(Interest-only available-Call me)

Call for free pre-approval and to discover

the best financing for you!

...by Gary Moore

Cell: 615-579-8658 Toll-free fax: 866-321-6513

"Not only our future economic soundness but the very soundness of our democratic institutions depends on the determination of our government to give employment to idle men." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Visit my real estate website:

http://www.RealCarte.com

Visit my mortgage website:

http://www.BrentwoodHomeLoan.com

(0% points, 1% origination, subject to program and lock period. Market Update informs on market trends and is not a quote for a unique borrower.)

Weekend Market Update

Jan. 30-31, 2010

Stocks logged their worst month in nearly a year as investors shrugged off potentially encouraging economic data.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average ended January down 3.5%, its biggest monthly decline since February 2009. The S&P 500 ended January down 3.7%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 5.4% in January.

The Dow closed at 10,067 after a closing print of 10,725 only nine trading days ago on Jan. 19, which was then its highest mark since Oct. 1, 2008.

Good News; Bad News

The Commerce Department said fourth-quarter gross domestic product grew at 5.7%, the fastest rate in six years, easily topping economists' forecast for 4.5% growth. Consumer spending increased at a 2% annual rate, down from 2.9% in the third quarter when the government's cash-for-clunkers program boosted auto sales.

For the entirety of 2009, the economy shrank 2.4%, the worst year for GDP since the 10.9% drop in 1946.

After fourth-quarter GDP was reported, stocks got a lift and bonds were scorned. As Friday’s trading wore on, however, those roles reversed. Mortgage rates were repriced for the better by most lenders in mid-afternoon. The 10-year Treasury note closed at a yield of 3.61%, after yielding just over 4% at Thursday’s close.

Triple Threat

We have three months to take advantage of an unprecedented opportunity for home buyers, and, to some extent, for home sellers. I am referring to the “triple threat” of low interest rates, low home prices and government gifts to homebuyers.

First-time buyers can receive an $8,000 gift from Uncle Sam, and qualified move-up buyers can get a $6,500 gift from the U.S. Treasury for buying a home. Call me to see if you qualify and for your best buying and borrowing strategy. Sellers could get a lift, too, as the market gets a boost from these buyers being in it.

30-Year Conventional Fixed

4.75% $100,000-$417,000


FHA-100% VA

5% $100,000-$393,300


100% Guaranteed Rural Housing w/no MI

5.5% $100,000-$417,000

30-Year Jumbo 5/1 ARM (15% down, No MI)

5% $417,001-$900,000

(Interest-only available-Call me)

Call for free pre-approval and to discover

the best financing for you!

...by Gary Moore

Cell: 615-579-8658 Toll-free fax: 866-321-6513

“Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there.” --Josh Billings

Visit my mortgage website:

http://www.BrentwoodHomeLoan.com

(0% points, 1% origination, subject to program and lock period. Market Update informs on market trends and is not a quote for a unique borrower. Reply "remove" with your name and email to discontinue Update.)

Weekend Market Update

Jan. 23-24, 2010

The stock market suffered its worst setback in more than 10 months this week, and mortgage interest rates stayed low as money moved to Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities.

Stocks have had their worst showing since they began their recovery last March. The market also is seeing the kind of volatility that dominated the market's long slide -- the Dow has had a triple-digit move five straight days for the first time since December 2008.

The Dow lost 4.1 percent this week, its worst week since it hit a 12-year low in early March. It had reached its highest level since Oct. 1, 2008, only this past Tuesday, closing at 10,725.43. On Friday, it closed at 10,172.98.

The markets were rattled on Thursday after President Obama asked Congress to limit the size of big banks and to end to some of the risky trading large financial companies have used to boost their profits. When the TARP program was hustled in during the final days of the Bush presidency, Americans were told that some institutions were "too big to fail." While taxpayers provided a safety net for the massive, for-profit corporations, those companies are now larger than before, due to consolidation and takeovers in the industry.

President Obama is also seeking to reign in high-stakes, high-risk derivative trading which sparked the 2008 economic crisis as the big banks choked on their bad bets.

There is more uncertainty for the markets next week and not just because more earnings reports will arrive. The Fed holds its first meeting on interest rates of 2010. No one expects the central bank to boost rates, but investors will be looking for the Fed's take on the economy.

Ben Bernanke, whose term as Federal Open Market Committee chairman ends Jan. 31, is still waiting for the Senate to confirm his reappointment to another term. A growing number of senators are blaming the Fed chairman for the nation's economic problems.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, was flat at 3.59 percent from late Thursday.

30-Year Conventional Fixed

4.875% $100,000-$417,000


FHA-100% VA

5% $100,000-$393,300


100% Guaranteed Rural Housing w/no MI

5.5% $100,000-$417,000

30-Year Jumbo 5/1 ARM (15% down, No MI)

5% $417,001-$900,000

(Interest-only available-Call me)

Call for free pre-approval and to discover

the best financing for you!

...by Gary Moore

Cell: 615-579-8658 Toll-free fax: 866-321-6513

"Don't confuse brains with a bull market." -- Humphrey Neill

Visit my real estate website:

http://www.RealCarte.com


Visit my mortgage website:

http://www.BrentwoodHomeLoan.com

(0% points, 1% origination, subject to program and lock period. Market Update informs on market trends and is not a quote for a unique borrower.)

Weekend Market Update

Jan. 16-17, 2010

Look out for yourself at this point. Think selfishly for now. Answer this question:

How can I take advantage of the market at this moment? “The market” involves financing real estate, buying and selling real estate and the U.S. Treasury’s gifts to homebuyers.

This may never happen again in our lifetimes---this combination of circumstances, or this “perfect storm,” to borrow a phrase. There is a deadline.

It affects more than first-time homebuyers, who can get up to $8,000 if they buy a home. It offers $6,500 for move-up buyers who purchase up to $800,000 in price. “First-time buyers” is not a literal definition; anyone who has not owned a home in the last three years is considered a first-time buyer.

For a buyer, what more do you need to know, other than prices are low, inventories are plentiful and mortgage rates are in the range of all-time lows?

For a prospective seller, could this be good timing for marketing your home? When first-timers buy, there is a ripple effect up through the market as those sellers get their equity freed up and are enabled to buy, and so on. With the incentive expanded up to $800,000 and including current homeowners, that ripple could become more like a big wave.

Home sales shot up last fall as buyers scrambled to meet the former deadline of Nov. 30. So, we have seen that these incentives can move the market.

The program has been reinstated, while rates are still low, and includes anyone who puts a contract on a home by April 30 and who closes by June 30.

What are you waiting for? Call me for the following:

1—To get pre-approved to buy and to discover the best program and strategy to deploy next.

2—To give you a free refinance scenario, to see if it makes sense to stay put and refinance to get cash out at low rates, or to change to a 15-year term, or to make any type of change that would enhance your financial picture going forward.

3—If you are a seller, to show you the financing options that would help you sell for the most money in the shortest time frame.

30-Year Conventional Fixed

4.75% $100,000-$417,000


FHA-100% VA

5% $100,000-$393,300


100% Guaranteed Rural Housing w/no MI

5.5% $100,000-$417,000

30-Year Jumbo 5/1 ARM (15% down, No MI)

5% $417,001-$900,000

(Interest-only available-Call me)

Call for free pre-approval and to discover

the best financing for you!

...by Gary Moore

Cell: 615-579-8658 Toll-free fax: 866-321-6513

"Buy when everyone else is selling, and hold until everyone else is buying. This is not merely a catchy slogan. It is the very essence of successful investing." - J. Paul Getty

Visit my mortgage website:

http://www.BrentwoodHomeLoan.com

(0% points, 1% origination, subject to program and lock period. Market Update informs on market trends and is not a quote for a unique borrower.)