Welcome to ReachtheSummit.com

81% rate U.S. economy as ‘poor’ – CNN poll

Economic news - CNNMoney.com — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:43:27 +0000

A new national poll released Sunday indicates that eight in 10 Americans say that the economy is in poor shape, and the number that say conditions are very poor is on the upswing after steady declines through the spring.

Click here to read the complete story at Economic news - CNNMoney.com.

Obama’s economy boost – just don’t call it stimulus

Economic news - CNNMoney.com — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:57:27 +0000

President Obama is pledging to propose a new package of job-boosting ideas next week -- just don't call it stimulus.

Click here to read the complete story at Economic news - CNNMoney.com.

How Did The Employment Report Affect Mortgage Rates?

Lane Houk — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:38:00 +0000

Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

It is the first Friday of the month and that brings us the official government report on the labor market: The Employment Situation Report. This release provides four headline measures on the health of the jobs sector. Nonfarm Payrolls: totals the number of jobs that were added to or cut from employer payrolls in the prior month. Consensus Forecast: -100,000 vs. -131,000 in July (Private payrolls increased 71,000 in July and +41,000 expected today) Unemployment Rate: the percentage of working-age, mentally able-Americans who are jobless. Consensus Forecast: 9.6% of the labor force vs. 9.5% last month Average Hourly Earnings: the average amount of earnings per hour of labor performed. Consensus Forecast: +0.1% vs. +0.2% last month. Average Work Week: average amount of hours worked by an employee...(read more)

Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Click here to read the complete story at Mortgage News Daily.

Where the jobs are now, and where they’ll be next

Economic news - CNNMoney.com — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:07:11 +0000

U.S. companies modestly added jobs in August, easing concerns that the nation might slip back into a recession. The latest jobs report released by the Labor Department today is better than expected. Employment in the private sector rose by 67,000 payrolls, after a revised 107,000 increase in July that was more than originally estimated. The report immediately sent stocks rallying, despite the fact that overall employment dropped and the unemployment rate climbed to 9.6% from 9.5%, as more people actively searched for jobs.

Click here to read the complete story at Economic news - CNNMoney.com.

All Signs Point to Higher Rates in Week Ahead

Lane Houk — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:48:00 +0000

Posted To: MBS Commentary

NFP has come and gone, let's see where things stand.... The October delivery FNCL 4.0 is -0-09 at 102-15. In the chart below I called attention to a few technical inflection points. The ascending trend channel that helped mortgage rates hit new lows on Wednesday has broken down and FNCL 4.0s have made their way back into the range that moderated price action for the majority of August. The falling knife found support and bounced higher directly in the middle of that range. 10s flagged lower for the entire month of August (all summer really) and are now flagging higher. The 2.625% coupon bearing 10 year TSY note is off its session price lows (98-24) at 99-07 yielding 2.715% (+8.8bps). 10s are the worst spot on the curve followed by 7s (+8.6bps) and the long bond (+7.6bps). Volume was heavy into...(read more)

Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Click here to read the complete story at Mortgage News Daily.

Signs of life in the job market

Economic news - CNNMoney.com — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:08:44 +0000

Businesses are hiring, but not enough to make up for the massive losses of temporary government jobs.

Click here to read the complete story at Economic news - CNNMoney.com.

FHFA Establishes New Housing Goals for GSEs

Lane Houk — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:44:03 +0000

Posted To: MND NewsWire

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), conservator of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (the Enterprises) has established its final housing goals for the Enterprises in 2010-2011. FHFA is required by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) to set such goals for targeted segments of the mortgage market The new rules establish three goals for single-family, owner-occupied home purchases; one for low-income families, another for very low-income families, and a third for families living in geographical areas with lower-income populations, areas with high concentrations of minority residents, or federal declared disaster areas. The goal for disaster areas contains a sub-goal to ensure that the needs of lower-income and minority areas are addressed. A goal has also been established for...(read more)

Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Click here to read the complete story at Mortgage News Daily.

Banks Prefer Cash Buyers in REO Sales; Freddie Mac Streamline Refi Program; Originator Capacity Constraints; Comments on Property Flipping

Lane Houk — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:26:24 +0000

Posted To: Pipeline Press

If there's one thing that an investor will never let any originator off the buyback hook for, it's fraud . Not only that, but the penalties can go far beyond merely buying back the loan, and saying' "My bad." Just in the last few days, Laura-Jean Arvelo and Ronald O'Malley, a New Jersey mortgage broker and former head of the Bergen County Improvement Authority, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of preparing fraudulent mortgage applications. Both are charged with wire fraud, bank fraud and loan application fraud in order to take bogus documents and falsified applications to trick lenders into making mortgage loans and benefited from fees they received. Ryan Miller of Missouri was sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison and pay $6 million in restitution for mortgage fraud...(read more)

Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Click here to read the complete story at Mortgage News Daily.

Should US government debt be rated junk?

Economic news - CNNMoney.com — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:01:49 +0000

A few weeks ago, Hedgeye, the investment research firm where I'm a managing director, hosted a conference call for our subscribers that posed the question, "Should U.S. Government Debt Be Rated Junk Status?" Given that debt issued by the U.S. government continues to trade at almost all-time lows in yield, this is a contrarian call to say the least.

Click here to read the complete story at Economic news - CNNMoney.com.

Employment Situation Report: -54K Total Job Losses. Private Sector Adds 67k Positions. Bonds Sell

Lane Houk — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:30:00 +0000

Posted To: MBS Commentary

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION – AUGUST 2010 – BETTER THAN EXPECTED From the Release... Nonfarm payroll employment changed little (-54,000) in August, and the unemployment rate was about unchanged at 9.6 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Government employment fell, as 114,000 temporary workers hired for the decennial census completed their work. Private-sector payroll employment continued to trend up modestly (+67,000). The number of unemployed persons (14.9 million) and the unemployment rate (9.6 percent) were little changed in August. From May through August, the jobless rate remained in the range of 9.5 to 9.7 percent. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) declined by 323,000 over the month to 6.2 million . In August, 42...(read more)

Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Click here to read the complete story at Mortgage News Daily.