Equity futures are modestly higher this morning as investors anticipate the latest developments from Greece as well as three key domestic data releases. “Optimism that a new bailout for Greece is near is providing a modest boost to equity markets and weighing on the US$ index,” said economists from BMO Capital Markets. “The package is rumored to include a further €24 billion in austerity measures (about 10% of Greek GDP).” Key Events Today: 8:30 ― The National Bureau of Economic Research refused to say recently whether the economy had exited the recession, but it should be broadly agreed upon once GDP advances for the third straight quarter, as it is expected to do in this report. First-quarter growth is anticipated to rise 3.4% following the 5.6% gain in the fourth…(read more)
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 23, 2010. Michael Fratantoni, MBA's Vice President of Research and Economics says: "Purchase activity continues to increase as we approach the end of the homebuyer tax credit program….Purchase applications were up almost 9 percent from a month ago, with a disproportionate share of the increase due to government purchase applications. Government applications for purchasing a home accounted for almost 49 percent of all purchase applications last week." From the release… The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume decreased 2.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased…(read more)
Fannie Mae announced on Tuesday it is extending its buyer incentive program beyond the original expiration date at the end of this month. The program is available to borrowers who purchase a Fannie Mae owned HomePath property and intend to owner-occupy. Homes for sale include single-family houses, condominiums and town houses that have been taken over by Fannie Mae as delinquencies and foreclosures rose. The program, which will now expire on June 30, 2010, offers buyers of Fannie Mae owned properties listed on the HomePath.com website who close by that date a rebate of 3.5 percent of the purchase price of the house. The rebate can be used toward closing costs, a choice of selected Whirlpool appliances, or a combination of the two at the discretion of the buyer. The incentives were initiated…(read more)
Stock markets are looking to open the final week of April looking up after the benchmark S&P 500 added 2.1% last week. Positive earnings results were the main driver of those gains “as a whopping 84% of S&P 500 companies so far … have beaten expectations,” said economists at BMO Capital Markets. They noted that the historical norm is just 66%. One hour ahead of the opening bell on Monday, Dow futures are up 33 points to 11,175 and S&P 500 futures are trading 2.25 points higher at 1,214.50. The 2 year Treasury note is +0-01 at 99-29 yielding 1.045% and the 10 year note is +0-06 at 98-20 yileding 3.794%. The commodities picture is mixed: WTI crude oil is up 32 cents to $85.35 per barrel, while Spot Gold is off $1.60 to $1,156.00. In terms of economic data, the week opens…(read more)
The continued availability of government guaranteed mortgages for rural homebuyers was virtually assured yesterday when the House Financial Services Committee voted to approve H.R. 5017 . The unanimous vote will send the Rural Housing Preservation and Stabilization Act of 2010 to the full House of Representatives where sources said it was fast tracked for a vote as early as next week. If passed, the bill will correct the Section 502 Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program to make it self-funding. Section 502 assists homebuyers living in rural areas to obtain affordable mortgages guaranteed by the Department of Agriculture (USDA). These loan guarantees have become enormously popular during the financial crisis and consumer demand has tripled the annual number of loans that are typically…(read more)
Stocks fell across Europe and Asia fell Thursday after Greece revealed that its 2009 deficit was a worse than anticipated 13.6% of GDP, against expectations of 12.7%. US stocks are following suit after a mixed session yesterday, but plenty of fresh data in the morning could change the markets direction. One hour before the opening bell, Dow futures are down 30 points to 11,029 and S&P 500 futures are down 5.00 points to 1,195.25. The 2yr Treasury note is flat yielding 0.996% and the 10 year Treasury note is +0-01 at 99-02 yielding 3.741%. Commodity prices are also weaker with WTI crude oil down 64 cents to $83.04 per barrel, while Spot Gold is trading $4.32 lower at $1,142.43. Maintaining its flight-to-quality characteristics, the US dollar has strengthened, particularly against the euro…(read more)
Its a slow day in the market so I looked back at Fannie Mae's April Economic Outlook . Below are some observations….I am curious to hear anecdotal feedback from the community. FANNIE MAE'S OVERALL OUTLOOK : A Long Slog to a Comeback From FN's analysis: We expect economic growth to have decelerated from an annualized pace of 5.6 percent in the fourth quarter to 2.7 percent in the first quarter. The significant slowdown was a result of the diminishing impact of the inventory swing. At the same time we expect final demand, which is gross domestic product (GDP) minus changes in inventories, to grow just slightly slower than the fourth quarter pace. The most encouraging sign during the first two months of the year was strengthening consumer spending . However, business investment in…(read more)
Its a slow day in the market so I looked back at Fannie Mae's April Economic Outlook . Below are some observations….I am curious to hear anecdotal feedback from the community. FANNIE MAE'S OVERALL OUTLOOK : A Long Slog to a Comeback From FN's analysis: We expect economic growth to have decelerated from an annualized pace of 5.6 percent in the fourth quarter to 2.7 percent in the first quarter. The significant slowdown was a result of the diminishing impact of the inventory swing. At the same time we expect final demand, which is gross domestic product (GDP) minus changes in inventories, to grow just slightly slower than the fourth quarter pace. The most encouraging sign during the first two months of the year was strengthening consumer spending . However, business investment in…(read more)
Robert E. Story, Jr., Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) told Congress last week that servicers administering government foreclosure prevention programs should receive more assistance in bearing the costs of HAMP . That message was communicated at an appearance before the House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity Committee on Financial Services on the " Recently Announced Revisions to HAMP ." Story said that the announced changes are consistent with recommendations MBA presented to Treasury in February, including the recognition that borrowers should continue to pay a portion of their income toward their mortgage. The MBA also supports allowing different periods of forbearance to help ease financial institutions' concerns with the accounting and regulatory…(read more)
Robert E. Story, Jr., Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) told Congress last week that servicers administering government foreclosure prevention programs should receive more assistance in bearing the costs of HAMP . That message was communicated at an appearance before the House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity Committee on Financial Services on the " Recently Announced Revisions to HAMP ." Story said that the announced changes are consistent with recommendations MBA presented to Treasury in February, including the recognition that borrowers should continue to pay a portion of their income toward their mortgage. The MBA also supports allowing different periods of forbearance to help ease financial institutions' concerns with the accounting and regulatory…(read more)
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