May 12, 2011
May 12, 2011 by admin
The stock market rallied in a day that looked much like a roller coaster ride. The market swung nearly 180 points with intraday trading and finished the session up almost sixty points. The rebound in equities was not welcome news to the mortgage market which has been in the news this week with mortgage rates reaching their low levels for 2011. Bond yields have dropped over sixty basis points this year, down under 3.2 % this week, before edging up slightly today. The dip in yields have assisted in bringing long term rates lower. National mortgage lenders are promoting the advantage of refinancing into a fifteen year loan term under four percent, and thirty year loan rates are in the 4.6% range with most lenders. The drop in rates will be good for refinance activity, but much remains to be seen if there is any carryover effect to the home sales.
Oil prices continue to a dominant source of economic discussion. With a sharp pullback in oil prices bringing the per barrel cost under $100, there is a growing disconnect with gas prices which are still lingering above $4 per gallon. Today, executives from the countries largest oil companies were trying to defend the benefits of billions of dollars in tax breaks before congress, growing concerns over these companies monopoly and staggering profits on the back of consumers continues to grow and will likely result in changes within the federal tax codes.