Mortgage rates show mixed results

February 13th, 2012

Mortgage rates showed mixed results with mostly upward pressure, according to the latest weekly report from Freddie Mac.

Freddie Macs Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ending February 9, 2012 revealed that the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage stayed constant at its record-low mark but that average rates for other mortgage products mostly inched up.

The 30-year fixed average of 3.87 percent was the same as the previous week, which set a new historical low mark. An interesting side note mentioned by Freddie Mac in its weekly report: Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed averaged 5.05 percent.

A strong January employment report added upward pressure to most mortgage rates this week, Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac, said in a statement. The economy gained 243,000 jobs last month, the largest monthly gain since April 2011, and the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent, which was the lowest since February 2009.

Januarys positive employment data coincided with rising average rates for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs), 5-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) and 1-year ARMS.

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Tags: Mixed Results, Mortgage Rates Show, Rates Show, Results

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Podcast 145: Protecting Individual Finances in a Marriage

February 8th, 2012

Today on the , Tom Dziubek talks to Jenny Kerr, founder of The Jenny Pincher.

Jenny talks with Tom about how married women can better prepare themselves financially for a divorce. Some of the items she discusses are keeping individual checking accounts, knowing where the money is and being prepared to start a new job.

Consumerism Commentary Podcast Protecting Individual Finances in a Marriage: S06E15 / 172 RSS iTunes

Table of contents

Introduction from Tom Dziubek Interview with Jenny Kerr Jennys inspiration for article Individual bank accounts The need for a joint account Funding the individual account The individual account for emergency access Know where the money is Keeping your resume current Part-time work Understanding the necessities Knowing what benefits are tied to your spouse Identifying policies your spouse could benefit from End

We always welcome feedback from listeners.

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A Gold Bug’s Moment In The Political Sun

January 24th, 2012

Jim Grant, noted gold bug and fine prose stylist, is having a moment in the political sun. Ron Paul has said he’d nominate Grant as Fed chairman. Now, Newt Gingrich says he’d appoint Grant to a “Commission on Gold” that would consider whether the U.S. should return to the gold standard.

Grant has been arguing for years that returning to the gold standard — tying the value of the dollar to the value of gold — would be preferable to the current system, in which the Federal Reserve controls the value of the dollar. In an interview with us last year, Grant said:

Ben Bernanke testifies one day, he thinks he wants to impart a little zest into our shopping by injecting more green, paper dollars into the world. He thinks that more of them will be more better. Why? Because it will cause prices to go up just enough. Not too much, but just enough. Do you believe that? It’s risible. Laughable.

But, as Grant himself told us, Grant’s point of view is wildly unpopular among economists left, right and center.

 

“The argument I’m making is in fact the wingnut argument,” Grant said. “Eve

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Tags: Political Sun, Sun

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Antitrust Litigation Brought Against Visa, MasterCard for Alleged Price Fixing

January 14th, 2012

Visa, MasterCard and a plethora of large banks are the subject of a new antitrust litigation drawn on the behalf of five million retailers in the country, with potential settlement costs in the tens of billions of dollars.

Central to the lawsuit are claims that these institutions have been setting prices on credit card transactions that fall outside of what would be expected in a truly open and competitive market.

Average interchange fees incurred by credit card transactions hover around 2 percent, but could be dropped as low as half of a percent, which would result is losses projected also in the billions annually.

The Durbin Amendment of the Dodd-Frank Act effectively capped debit card swipe fees as 24 cents per transaction, which caused banks to increase credit card transaction costs to recoup their losses.

The case is scheduled to start on Sept. 12 and will be presided over by Judge John Gleeson of the U.S. Eastern District, a judge that ruled over what is considered the largest antitrust lawsuit in American history.

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Tags: Antitrust Litigation, Mastercard

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Stock Current Market Tutorial – Do You Want to Learn How to Trade and Invest in the Stock Market Place?

December 31st, 2011

It is troublesome to know just exactly where to start off when you choose to make investments on the stock current market. Definitely, you could just open up an account with an on line stock agent and stick to your intuition, but for all investors this is a threatening method to go. It is a great deal far better to go through a stock industry tutorial or two, research for more data, and realize the principles of the market previously you commence investing. Right here are a very few very good hints to get you started.

It is quite crucial know and acknowledge the variations among on line stock brokers and offline brokers. There is a considerable distinction in the type of expertise and also in the value of investing with each and every sort of stock broker. Offline stock brokers (normally identified as offline stock brokers) are well known for supplying directions to shoppers and helping with managing their purchases as clearly. Trading for this level of assistance, large charges are charged, often up to hundreds of dollars per investment. In opposition, online stock brokers are nearly to a do-it-yourself (do it all by yourself) endeavor, but you can invest $20 or even less for every trade in some situations.

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Tags: Current Market, Market, Stock Current, Stock Current Market

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Q&A: Understand the dangers of no-cost loans

December 15th, 2011

No-cost loans and mortgages are very attractive at first. However, in most cases all is not as it appears. Simply compare mortgage rates and look at the difference between mortgage loans with standard closing costs and those classified as “no-cost.”

Whether you’re looking at national or local mortgage rates, you’ll see a significant difference in both options, with the “no-cost” mortgage rates usually one-half to three-quarters of a percent higher.

While standard purchase money or refinance loans may have closing costs of two to three percent of the mortgage amount, these are one-time charges. Paying higher no-cost refinance rates will continue over the life of the mortgage.

For example, a three-quarter of a percent increase would cost you over $17,000 more in interest over the life of a $100,000 mortgage. This is obviously more than a $2,000 to $3,000 one-time charge for closing costs.

In some cases, no-cost loans can generate disaster. The difference in national and local refinance rates may even cause a homeowner serious financial problems, sometimes leading to foreclosure or bankruptcy. The two or

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Tags: Loans, Nocost Loans

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