Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Interest Rates

It seems that fall is a great time to start watching rates. The turmoil in the mortgage market started late last summer on wall street, and that turmoil has once again gained speed. As a mortgage professional who watches the stock and bond markets minute by minute, it is hard to watch the news. There is so much speculation and uneducated guesses about what rates are going to do. Mortgage rates are not directly tied to what the Federal Reserve does. The Fed's decisions will positively or negatively affect investor's decisions on where they put there money. If at 2:15 e.s.t. the Fed decides to lower the fed funds rates, you will most likely see an increase in mortgage rates as mortgage backed securities will see this as an inflationary move. The fed's last cut in January 2008 is just now being felt in the markets. Personally I think the fed should give their previous decisions time to work. A cut now would help the stock market, but it will be a bump (maybe a big one) for mortgage bonds and therefore rates.
If you would like to find out more about the market, log onto my website at www.abilitymortgage.com and click the link to market news. It is a great tool and is updated daily on what the market is doing. Call or email me if you would like to discuss this topic more. dromero@abilitymortgage.com.

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