December 18, 2008
December 18, 2008 by admin
The stock market turned lower again in mid day trading on Thursday as concerns over the economy and the fallout from the Bernie Madoff investment scam are garnering most investors attention. The stock market received welcome news this morning from the Philly Fed reported which showed a slight improvement over the November report for the manufacturing industry. Oil continues to trade lower, despite news out of OPEC that they would follow through on a 2 million barrel per day cut to production.
The housing industry continues to receive support from falling mortgage rates. The ten year bond opened at 2.09% on Thursday, hovering near historic lows. Fixed rate mortgage loans are now well into the low five and high four percent range with most national mortgage lenders. Mortgage rates near the historic lows could last for the next 30-60 days, but there are no long term guarantees due to the rapid fluctuations with the stock market.