Posts about Mortgage Market Report as of July 13, 2009

The Twin Cities housing market experienced its annual pre-Independence Day drop in activity as fireworks, barbeques and lake cabin excursions preoccupied the minds and schedules of many Twin Citizens. New listings took a steep dive prior to the holiday, dropping to 1,482 for the week ending July 4. This is an 8.3 percent decrease from the same week in 2008.   Pending sales also dropped to 989 for the week ending July 4.  Fortunately, this stat is still a healthy 34.6 percent above where it was last year, when there were just 735 pending sales reported.

Last week WhyYouCare.com did not publish, but in our absence we note that Capitol Hill’s hearing juggernaut continued on the myriad facets of regulatory reform. So this week’s story drivers?  Barring a major international incident (and there are numerous candidates) this week’s focus will be on Judge Sotomayor, Healthcare, Bush administration era anti-terror policies and programs, and the economy.  In that order.

The future for July and August mortgage rates should take direction from the economic releases this week .  As you can see, we have some big market movers ahead of us:  PPI (Tues) , CPI (Wed) , Jobless Claims (Thur), and Housing Starts (Fri).  Mortgage bond traders will be looking for signs of a strengthening economy, which might hint at future inflation, to sell off bonds thereby increasing mortgage rates.

From UrbanSurvial.com : The Next ‘Battle for Washington’ We begin this week with a note from a very savvy private investor that’s worth sharing: For several decades, the financial players have had a wonderful time playing the game of Three Card Monte. Instead of having just three cards on a sidewalk stand or three walnuts and pea, they’ve had a half dozen regulators and literally a hundred countries to hide in.

  I don’t know what Attorney’s Title Insurance Fund of Florida did wrong, but effective immediately Flagstar Bank will no longer be accepting Closing Protection Letters from them. Congratulations to David Stevens. On Friday the U.S. Senate confirmed Dave to head the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) . Stevens will take over the agency in the middle of their huge surge in business, and many feel that with the non-HVCC appraisals and the fact that the FHA insures mortgages with a small down payment for borrowers who meet its standards are creating the next possible “cause for concern” in the mortgage business.

Mortgage markets improved last week on fresh concerns about the U.S. economy. With data showing neither overt strength nor weakness, and with earnings season about to start, traders got defensive with their money and parked it in bonds. As a result, mortgage rates fell in mixed trading last week. It’s the third consecutive week in which rates fell. This week, rates should be in flux with traders watching 3 things. The first is the aforementioned Earnings Season reports.

by Leach Larson Currency trading can be a lot of fun and can make you a lot of money if you know what you are doing. Trading currencies is not only a nice alternative to stock investing, but it seems to be easier to learn and getting involved in. However, before your get into the forex market, you should seek out the best training possible. While some people leap into FX currencies before they learn to crawl, you will make the most money by learning as much as you can before you take the real-world plunge.

Most of Wall Street, and America, is still waiting for an economic recovery. Then there is Goldman Sachs.Up and down Wall Street, analysts and traders are buzzing that Goldman, which only recently paid back its government bailout money, will report blowout profits from trading on Tuesday.Analysts predict the bank earned a profit of more than $2 billion in the March-June period, because of its trading prowess across world markets.

By Lending Central’s US reporter, Sam Garcia www.mortgagedaily.comMortgage lenders and financial institutions face the biggest overhaul of financial regulation since the Great Depression. A plan outlined by President Barack Obama calls for the creation of a powerful new regulator to oversee all aspects of mortgage lending, continued lender liability on securitized loans and the elimination of the Office of Thrift Supervision (an agency of the US Treasury Department which is responsible for regulating

Frequently I will get questions about how to market borrowers that are late on their mortgage, but have not received an formal Notice of Default. The particular issue is NOD listings tend to have a insufficient conversion rate. Most of the time terrible closing rates are attributed to the data going public at a particular point. In which case the market gets loaded with telemarketing, direct marketing and circulars.

I receive calls each day from Short Sale brokers that ask me how they can get in touch with borrowers that are presently 30-60-90 days past on their deed and have not received a Notice of Default yet. The particular issue is Lis Pendens lists tend to have a low conversion ratio. Nearly all of the time poor conversion ratios are attributed to the data going public at a certain point in time. In which event the market becomes loaded with telemarketing, direct mail and flyers.

Contributed by Martin Mitchell of the Corporate Training Group     In case you were too busy to have kept up with all the news, contributor Martin Mitchell has gathered some important market events from last week to help you start this week well nformed: Mergers and Acquisitions Mining company Rio Tinto agreed to sell part of its Alcan packaging unit to Bemis of the US for $1.2bn.

It seems NAB is employing the same mark to fantasy accounting treatments as US banks. According to law firm Maurice Blackburn, NAB failed to disclose the true value of its exposure to toxic CDO’s. From the Daily Telegraph: NAB’s toxic debt digging a $4bn black hole NATIONAL Australia Bank could be prompted into a capital raising to cover losses of almost $4 billion from its portfolio of toxic debt that is being investigated by the nation’s prudential regulator, analysts said.

Loans are one of the best sources to finance your cash needs. UK loan market is filled with infinite number of loan options that aim to meet the diverse needs of borrowers. You too must have taken a number of loans or used credit cards at many occasions. It’s good if you have used them wisely and paid them on time. But, if you have defaulted on loan or missed a credit card payment, then your credit report will reveal that you have an adverse credit. An adverse credit is an evil if you don’t know how to get out of it.

Is it my imagination, or is U.S. Rep. Daniel Issa about the only member of Congress who is doing his homework to keep the government honest? The guy is willing to find facts, and challenge fantasy. Let’s see a few Democrats start doing this. Issa, the ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, just released a report on how 16 years of government interference with mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was largely responsible for last year’s financial meltdown.

Some local bankers will claim that their bank is safer They always point to instances where foreign banks raise lending rates for home loans. Safety means different things to different people, either perceived or real. All banks in Singapore has to pass the stringent requirement set by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).The MAS is still one of the more conservative regulators worldwide, which balances regulation with free market. In terms of safety, Singapore’s banks regardless of local or foreign are quite solvent.

Well I’ve recently received confirmations of my bias for living in Utah, although whether or not Utah is the “Best State in America” may be in the eyes of the beholder. My wife and I recently relocated from Southern California and I must admit, I’ve been very pleasantly surprised. Here are some interesting Utah-centric stats: UTAH FIGHTING TO BE #1 IN COLLEGE FOOTBALLThe University of Utah’s Ute were the only team to go undefeated in the 2008-2009 season.

In an excellent article from the Financial Times, White House Chief economic advisor Larry Summers, indicates to reporters that more jobs will be lost and that the worst is probably yet to come! Summers also indicates in the article that while he was Secretary of Treasury under Bill Clinton, he was worried about predatory lending, and the stability of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac! (If you can believe that!)  These sueto-government mortgage agencies are the same two that destroyed the housing market due to a massive amount of adjustable rate mortgages to unqualified home owners.

I receive calls each day from Short Sale agents that ask me how they can get in touch with borrowers that are currently thirty, sixty or ninety days late on their deed and have not incurred a Lis Pendens yet. Their primary interest is that the Notice of Default lists that they are using for selling are not closing advantageously for them. Most of the time low closing rates are attributed to the data becoming public at a certain point in time. In which event the market becomes inundated with telephone calls, direct marketing and circulars.

Source : NEP (New Economics Papers) | RePEc Cyclical Skill-Biased Technological Change Date: 2009-06 By: Balleer, Almut (University of Bonn) van Rens, Thijs (CREI and Universitat Pompeu Fabra) URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4258&r=bec Over the past two decades, technological progress has been biased towards making skilled labor more productive.

by LarynPresident Obama has an op-ed in the Washington Post today defending the stimulus package. Let’s take a look under the hood: Nearly six months ago, my administration took office amid the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression. At the time, we were losing, on average, 700,000 jobs a month. And many feared that our financial system was on the verge of collapse.Wait a minute.

         Friday, Jun. 12, 2009 Congress Finally Gets Tough on Food Safety By Michael Weisskopf / Washington     A United Market grocery store alerts customers that all bagged fresh spinach has voluntarily been removed from shelves in San Rafael, Calif. Justin Sullivan / Getty   Every few months, it seems, a new food-contamination scandal grips the nation, playing out in the same troubling way. Someone dies of a food-borne infection with a scary Latin name.

  Laurence Fink , CEO of BlackRock appears to have guided his company through the minefields of the 2007-2008 financial collapse and emerged a well-positioned entity. Georgia”> Georgia”> In fact, on June 11, 2009, BlackRock signed a deal with Barclays that according to Bloomberg, “creates a company overseeing $2.7 trillion in assets, more than the  Federal Reserve.

Frequently I will get inquiries about how to market clients that are late on their mortgage, but have not received an formal NOD. Their main concern is that the Notice of Default lists that they are using for selling are not closing well for them. The cause those listings tend not to convert advantageously is because once the client information goes public they are inundated with phone calls and direct marketing. The second biggest matter is that often once an Notice of Default has been published, the client may have already abandoned the property.

Not quite that blunt (but very, very close), but that’s about the gist of a report released by the Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Incredibly, this has received exactly zero coverage in the MSM! Who ever heard of such a committee anyway? Of course, this is nothing new for readers of this blog, or many others on the right side of the blogosphere.

Dear CIGAs, This system capable of manipulating markets has a program for commodity markets, specifically crude oil and gold. It is strange the way things change. The COMEX and Chicago once accused me of manipulating the world’s gold markets in 1979, convening a meeting in which every chair of the board of directors was occupied.

Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics e-dition: Text with Continually Updated Online Reference (Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics (Bherman) Provides up-to-the minute coverage at www.nelsonpediatrics.com-updated multiple times a week-more frequently than any other source on the market! Features the editorial contributions of a new editor-Dr. Bonita F. Stanton-for enhanced focus on general pediatrics. Presents new knowledge on the principles of antibiotic therapy . antiviral therapy . antiparasitic therapy .