April 7, 2009
April 7, 2009 by admin
The stock market has lost some of the momentum from March as investors appear to be more earnings focussed following a twenty percent increase in the dow over the past thirty days. Oil prices have retreated back under fifty dollars and investors again appear to have concerns over economic growth prospects for the balance of 2009. A key component in the market sell off came from a banking analyst who indicated that banking industry will be challenged with the largest writeoff in loans in history this year as auto loans, commercial loans and credit card loan defaults are expected to surge.
Confidence will be a key component in restoring the economy and the business leaders of some of the worlds largest companies have yet to endorse a full market recovery this year. This negative view is certainly going to impact job growth and also will linger over the equity markets.
Fixed mortgage rates continue to be a great source of financial relief for millions of home owners who have been able to refinance their existing mortgage loans. The yield on the ten year bond has risen over the past two week, but still remains below 3% (2.91 on Tuesday) and thirty year fixed rate mortgage loans are hovering in the low five percent range. There are a few critical pieces of government legislation in the works, one by Representative Frank aimed at mortgage securitization and loan qualification and the other earmarked to help prevent the rising amount of fraud centered around home loan modifications. There has been an enormous amount of confusion with lenders and loan modifications as to what the proper chanel to process a modification is. The general rule of thumb is to start with your lender and avoid third parties if possible.