by Irene Moustakas | Jan 8, 2009 | General Market News, Industry News, Rates
Interest rates are incredible, but I want to point out some recent limitations to these excellent rates. Normally, in terms of points vs. no points vs. no points/no fees, interest rates tend to work in .25% increments. For example, you would be quoted in the following...
by Irene Moustakas | Dec 1, 2008 | General Market News, Industry News, Rates
GREAT news: The Federal Reserve announced last week that it would buy $600 billion worth of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Mortgage-Backed Securities. With the guarantee that the government will buy these mortgages, rates dipped dramatically. This action by the Fed will...
by Irene Moustakas | Nov 20, 2008 | General Market News, Industry News
The Fed Minutes from the October meeting were released yesterday, and the hot topic was the concern over deflation. This news caused stocks to tumble and investors to pour their money into the security of Treasury Notes. Generally, the Fed has two jobs: the first is...
by Irene Moustakas | Nov 17, 2008 | General Market News
The big news of late has been the potential government bailout of the Detroit Three: General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. Because of poor sales, our domestic auto makers are running out of cash and can’t keep up with costs. The concern is that if the government...
by Irene Moustakas | Nov 4, 2008 | General Market News
The market has swung wildly since last week. Fed Day last Wednesday brought the expected .5% rate cut, bringing the Fed Funds Rate (the rate at which banks lend money to each other) to 1.0%. As consumers, this will affect and decrease Prime Rate. Rates saw great...
by Irene Moustakas | Oct 10, 2008 | General Market News
The overall intention of the Rescue Plan was not just to create liquidity in the marketplace, but more importantly to promote consumer confidence. So far, it’s not working… Both the stock market and the bond market have been hit extremely hard. Rates have...