Rich Bira's (rbira) Blog

So the rates hit a record low last week, but that was short lived!  As you may have seen in the headlines in the last few days the 30yr hit a record low of 4.71% this week.  If you take a look at the mortgage bonds this record was actually the week before on November 27th, the day after Thanksgiv...

So interest rates are at the best levels they have been all year.  I wanted to discuss one of the reasons why they are here and also why I think they can spike up soon.  There is something called the carry trade.  You see, investors use the very low interest rate environment to leverage money int...

Some news on the Homebuyer tax credit. The House of Representatives has approved legislation that would expand and extend the tax credit till April 30th, with transactions having to close by June 30th 2010. The new proposal is as follows.  The tax credit would be lowered to $6500 from $8000. This...

Last week we had a few key economic reports out that move the markets and this week we have more. Here are some of the highlights from last week.   Producer Pricing Index came in lower than expected mainly due to the drop in energy prices.  However, let's keep an eye out for the next few months a...

Just quick recap of last week and a look ahead.  Last week the mortgage bonds had a wild ride hot of the heals of a very bad Friday, October 9th.   From the High point on that Friday, 101.90 to the close last Friday, 100.71, we lost 119bps in pricing.  That would be equivalent to about .25% worse...

Last week I wrote that we might have seen the best rates to date and they might start going up. Well, last Thursday night Ben Benanke made some comments about inflation. Even though it is not an issue now, it could be a big problem in the future. His comments simply said that when inflation start...

The Fed released their Minutes from the last FOMC meeting and there has been some revisions in their outlook for the US economy.  I will give it a quick break down and then explain why this is a plus/minus for our interest rates. LOWER GROWTH FORCAST (Remember, 2 consecutive months of negative gr...

Do you have a line of credit against your house?  Are you saving that for a rainy day, or for a home project down the road?  Well, I am going to give you a word of caution.  Lenders are starting to pull back the available money that you have on that line.  Even if you have perfect credit and have...