Archive for August, 2009

Mid-Day Recap: Losses in China Drive U.S. Equities South

Monday, August 31st, 2009

Stocks have had a rough day in the final session of August. After a sell-off in China hurt investor sentiment in Europe, US equity markets opened lower and have failed to bounce halfway through the day. As of 1:30, the NASDAQ is off 1.39% to 2,000, followed by a ...

MBA Ranks Commercial and Multifamily Servicers

Monday, August 31st, 2009

The Mortgage Bankers Association has released their semi-annual report on the largest commercial and multi-family loan servicers. Wells Fargo/Wachovia Bank ranks first as the largest primary and master servicer....(read more)

The Week Ahead: Manufacturing Surveys and Jobs Data

Monday, August 31st, 2009

Optimism that the economy is recovering in the third quarter has allowed the benchmark S&P 500 to rebound by 52% since early March, but in the past week markets were unimpressed with fresh data, even though most of it was positive. Analysts said investors were not sure the rapid 5-month ...

Fannie Mae’s Portfolio Down 18% in July, Delinquencies Rising

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Business at Fannie Mae was recovering mid-way through the summer, though the total value of its portfolio remains down nearly one-fifth, according to a press release on Thursday. The government-sponsored purchaser of mortgages said its Book of Business grew at a compound annualized rate of 10.1% in July, helping the year-to-date ...

The Day Ahead: Personal Income and Consumer Sentiment

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Stocks are looking to continue the rally from yesterday afternoon, with equity futures pointing upwards between 0.2% and 0.4%. Data at 8:30 could change that, as the Personal Income & Outlays report is one of this week’s key releases. But expectations are that incomes rose slightly and consumption made its ...

Mortgage Rates Remain Near Summer Lows

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Rates remained close to the summertime lows achieved during the previous week according to information released this morning by Freddie Mac. Both long term mortgage products increased slightly while the 5-year hybrid ARM took a more substantial jump. ...(read more)

Mid-Day Recap: Indifferent Markets Lead to Choppy Trading

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

At 1:30 the S&P is 0.44% lower to 1,023, while the Dow is essentially flat, -0.01% to 9,542, and the NASDAQ is -0.87% to 2006. On the debt side of the market the Treasury Department has successfully auctioned $28 billion 7 year notes. Following the auction the rates market rallied ...

Treasury Pushing Servicers To Take Preventive Actions

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Some of the lenders and servicers most closely associated with conditions that led to the subprime mortgage meltdown are now in line to receive billions of dollars in incentives to modify mortgages in their portfolios - mortgages that they have appeared reluctant to touch in the past....(read more)

The Day Ahead: Jobless Claims, 2Q GDP Revision, $28bn Treasury Auction

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Markets spent most of the day in a slumber yesterday, but just before the closing bell a small rally lifted equity indexes to just above par. This morning, investors are holding the market flat, as GDP revisions are expected to show a downward revision in the second quarter, and jobless ...

Mid-Day Recap: Stocks Shrug Off Housing Data, Dip Into Red

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

Three economic reports this morning have confirmed that there are pockets of strength in the US economy, but markets are having none of it. Equities were unchanged following a big advance in new orders for durable goods, and a jump in new home sales only put stocks in the black ...