March 16, 2009
March 16, 2009 by admin
The stock market fell for the first time in the past five days. Investors moved agressively to lock in profits as the market was up almost 150 pts in mid day trading. The early rally was sparked by comments from Ben Bernanke that he believes that the economy will begin to stabalize in the near future and by the end of 2009 will begin to improve. The stock market rally has been a great benefit to the major finanancial companies (Citigroup, Goldman Sachs). The major economic news of the day was related to manufacturing (empire state report) which measures manufacturing output, the news indicated further retrenchment in the manufacturing front.
Politically, President Obama is sure to gather some support following his announcement that he would seek to block the bonuses paid out to AIG. The recent report that AIG executives would receive hundreds of millions in bonuses for their productivity in 2008, following a period in which the company has lost 75 billion dollars and is now only in business thanks to a lifeline from the U.S. government.
The housing front is showing no signs of a quick improvement. A study released today that measures builders confidence showed further deterioration in the month of February. Long term fixed mortgage rates have begun moving up with the recent run of the stock market. The yield on the ten year bond closed at 2.95% on Monday. Fixed rate home loans are now in the low five range, but to secure a rate below five percent you should expect to pay points with your mortage loan.