There are definitely some clever folks out there. The
original Budweiser "Wassup!" commercial (8 years ago): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L38wthA4Ld0
The Wassup commercial people 8 years later: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq8Uc5BFogE&feature=related
And then there is this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA7co8Jn6c8
I decided that my kids should start a “financial
company”. This way, they may be able to take advantage of the Treasury
Department’s consideration of using a portion of its $700 billion rescue
fund to buy stakes in a broad range of financial companies, not just banks
and insurers. The story I saw said, “People familiar with the matter say
Treasury may scrap part of that early plan -- purchasing assets through an
auction process -- and instead purchase some of these distressed assets
directly.”
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association
(SIFMA) guidelines provide that 10- and 20-year MBS securities are considered
“good delivery” against 15- and 30-year TBA-eligible trades,
respectively. Accordingly, 10- and 20-year fully amortizing fixed-rate mortgage
loans with a high-balance feature will have the same MBS and whole loan
commitment eligibility as defined for 15- and 30-year FRMs. Beginning with
January pools, these may have up to 10% of high-balance FRMs with mortgage note
dates on or after October 1. Further information about clarifying the plan
should be forthcoming in upcoming weeks.
We had three pieces of information, in addition to the
election results. The ADP employment report confirmed a very weak labor
market, showing a loss of 157,000 jobs. (The survey doesn’t include
government jobs, and is often a poor predictor of the actual unemployment
numbers.) Mortgage applications for last week showed a 20.3% decline,
mostly blamed on higher rates. Refinances were down almost 30%. Lastly, the November
refunding announcement came out at $55 billion: $25 billion of 3-yr, $20
billion of 10-yr, and $20 30-yr Treasury securities. This was pretty much as
expected, but generally speaking increasing supply tends to push prices down
and rates higher. The ISM Non-Manufacturing Composite for October comes
out today and is expected to dip below 50 today. Did yesterday’s rally
continue this morning, or was it a case of “buy the rumor, sell the
news”? The 10-yr is around 3.73%, and 30-yr mortgage prices are a
shade better than yesterday afternoon, but perhaps not more than the price
changes that many investors put in yesterday. Worldwide, LIBOR rates
continue down, helping credit markets, although the direct impact on 30-yr
mortgage rates will be delayed. Still, it is a very good thing!
Are you still contributing to your retirement plan?
Congratulations! A new survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation on
behalf of TD AMERITRADE Holding Corporation found that financial strain due
to the economic downturn was cited by half of those who say they have reduced
or stopped contributing to their retirement plan. Unemployment (32%) and
health care costs (25%) were also key factors cited as affecting respondents'
ability to contribute to their retirement plans, according to a press release.
Of the 35% that said they have reduced their retirement plan contributions, 14%
have cut their contributions back by 5% to 20%, and 6% have reduced their
contributions by 21% or more. Only about half (54%) of Americans polled say
they are currently invested in a retirement plan. Thirty-four percent of
respondents say they currently have less than $50,000 in investable assets.
Only 21% of those polled indicated they have $50,000 or more in investable assets.
Radian announced rate and guideline changes
that take effect on November 17th. They also published information
on declining and stable markets. For example, “all MI loans will be
required to meet Radian’s full underwriting guidelines regardless of the
AUS response. There is a maximum DTI of 41% (with the following exceptions:
Jumbo Conforming loans maximum DTI 45%, Loans with Temporary Buydowns maximum
DTI 41%, Full Documentation Non-Prime loans maximum DTI 45%, etc.) Radian will
no longer insure non-conforming loan amounts. Loan Amounts Exceeding
$417,000 now require a DU Approve/Eligible or LP Accept/Eligible response
(Jumbo Conforming only). They also narrowed guidelines for non-owner occupied
homes, along with FICO scores for declining markets.
A blonde is watching the news with her husband when the
newscaster says “Two Brazilian men die in a skydiving accident.”
The blonde starts crying to her husband, sobbing,
“That's horrible!!! So many men dying that way!”
Confused, he says, “Yes dear, it is sad, but they were
skydiving, and there is always that risk involved.”
After a few minutes, the blonde, still sobbing, says,
“How many is a Brazilian?”
