Ricardo Cortez's (rcortez) Blog

Treasury Department has decided to use a Depression-era fund to provide guarantees for U.S. money market mutual funds. credit system melts down, the economy falls. Money market mutual funds are typically considered safe, but many investors have been fleeing them due to worries about the funds' ex...

Wall Street extended a huge rally Friday as investors stormed back into the market, relieved that the government plans to rescue banks from billions of dollars in bad debt. The Dow Jones industrials rose more than 375 points, giving them a massive gain of more than 785 points over two days, and T...

After a weekend of intense negotiations with multi-national banks and the Federal government, one of the most powerful investment banks on Wall Street, Lehman Brothers is left standing at the alter and is forced to declare bankruptcy. It is clear that even at fire sale prices (about $3/share Frid...

New-Home Builder Customer Satisfaction Study released today by J.D. Power and Associates.. Pulte brands,  ranked highest in customer satisfaction among new-home builders in 11 markets, J.D. Power reported. Here are the other companies cited for their experties and success Cambridge Homes, Centex ...

Pulte Homes Inc. ranked highest in customer satisfaction in a New-Home Builder Customer Satisfaction Study released today by J.D. Power and Associates. Overall customer satisfaction for all builders was 779 on a 1,000-point scale in 2008, J.D. Power reported, which is up from 741 in the 2007 surv...

We are in , how shall I say it, an ‘Interesting' time in the Real Estate and new home building real estate market. Especially, here in Metro Phoenix and the familiar towns of Tempe, Mesa, Glendale and Scottsdale. Real Estate Industry analysts have thrown around the term, the Perfect Storm" reflec...

a Fannie Mae Survey this week, found Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, fell to 5.54 percent, down from 5.90 percent last week.   Rates on five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 5.87 percent this week, down from 5.97 percent last week. One-year, adjus...

Rates on 30-year mortgages dropped sharply this week, falling to the lowest level in five months, as the government's dramatic takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had the hoped-for impact of lowering mortgage rates. Freddie Mac reported Thursday that its nationwide survey found...

The sub 300k market continues to fuel our market.  On the good news side, if a home is priced in the middle ranges, they will have less competition than they've had in a long time.   •1.      Under 300K increased to 60% of Market versus 49% 8/07, Plus Increase in inventory 08 vs 07 •2.      This ...

The worst global credit crisis seen in decades has made banks reluctant to lend to each other, which has crimped lending to individuals and businesses. Wanting to avert a broader panic that could endanger the entire U.S. financial system, the Fed has taken a number of extraordinary actions to pro...