Oct. 17-18, 2009

Halloween is the witching hour for getting a free $8,000 from your Uncle Sam, if you qualify. The Recovery Act's deadline for that windfall for first-time homebuyers is that your home purchase must be closed by Nov. 30. Effectively, assuming a 30-day period for processing and closing the sale and loan, get your loan and sale contract done this month in order to close in time to receive $8,000.

Contact me right away to get your best financing plan pinned down and to get my pre-approval certificate, which will help you negotiate with a seller. Keep in mind that persons who have not owned a home within the last three years qualify as first-time buyers.

Stocks slumped Friday at the end of an upbeat week on Wall Street as a sour response to General Electric and Bank of America's quarterly results gave investors a reason to retreat.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 67 points, or 0.7%. After closing above 10,000 for two straight sessions, the Dow ended just below that psychological benchmark. The S&P 500 index shed 9 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 16 points, or 0.8%.

One of America's wealthiest men was among six hedge fund managers and corporate executives arrested Friday in a hedge fund insider trading case that authorities say generated more than $25 million in illegal profits and was a wake-up call for Wall Street.

Raj Rajaratnam, a portfolio manager for Galleon Group, a hedge fund with up to $7 billion in assets under management, was accused of conspiring with others to use insider information to trade securities in several publicly traded companies, including Google Inc.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas F. Eaton set bail at $100 million to be secured by $20 million in collateral despite a request by prosecutors to deny bail. He also ordered Rajaratnam, who has both U.S. and Sri Lankan citizenship, to stay within 110 miles of New York City.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara told a news conference it was the largest hedge fund case ever prosecuted and marked the first use of court-authorized wiretaps to capture conversations by suspects in an insider trading case.

He said the case should cause financial professionals considering insider trades in the future to wonder whether law enforcement is listening.

"Greed is not good," said Bharara, according to Associated Press. "This case should be a wake-up call for Wall Street."

Mortgage rates bounced around during the week after settling mostly unchanged. The 10-year Treasury note closed at a yield of 3.42%.

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

6% $100,000-$417,000

30-Year Jumbo Fixed

6% $417,001-$1,000,000

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

5.25% $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