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5-Year ARMS Hit Record Low
Initial interest rates on 5-year adjustable-rate mortgages have fallen to a record low, reaching an average of 3.22 percent in the Freddie Mac weekly rate survey.
The rate was down from last week’s 3.25 percent, which matched the previous all-time low set last November. Other rates held fairly steady, with the average rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage ticking up a single basis point (0.01 percent) to 4.51 percent, while 15-year fixed-rate loans held steady at 3.69 percent. “Interest rates on 30-year fixed mortgages hovered around 4.5 percent for the fourth consecutive week following mixed reports on the strength of the economy,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist. “First quarter economic growth was revised up in the final estimate, but growth in consumer spending stagnated in May while April’s figure was revised downward; consumer expenditures account for roughly two-thirds of the nation’s gross domestic product.” Nothaft noted there were some signs of improvement in the housing market over the past week, with the S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Indices reporting a 0.7 percent gain in home prices in April, their first rise since last July, and a rebound in pending home sales in May reported by the National Association of Realtors. However, it’s n Read more…
UK factory data sparks fresh fears for recovery
Overall manufacturing growth eased back for a fifth consecutive month in June.
Dwindling confidence at home coupled with cooling global demand meant new orders fell for a second month running in June, according to the closely-watched Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI).
As a result, overall manufacturing growth eased back for a fifth consecutive month, with a reading of 51.3 – little over the 50-mark separating expansion from contraction and the weakest result since September 2009.
The data came as Barclays Capital sharply downgraded its GDP forecasts for both this year and next, and moved its prediction for a first interest rate rise back by six months – from November to May.
Growth this year will be just 1.1pc, BarCap said, compared with its earlier forecast of 1.6pc, and 1.9pc next year, down from 2.2pc.
Lackluster Trading Likely In Absence Of Market Moving Cues
– The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Friday, with sentiment suggesting caution after yesterday’s rebound helped the markets snap a 6-session losing streak. A report released earlier in the day showed a let up in import and export price inflation. Meanwhile, China reported a smaller than expected surplus and U.K.’s industrial production fell- all indications that the global economy is seeing a moderation in growth. With no further clues to act on, the uncertain economic environment is set to keep sentiment subdued in the markets.
After showing some apprehension in early trading on Thursday, U.S. stocks advanced steadily till late trading before paring some of their gains. The advance was built on the back of bargain hunting, as traders used the positive trade balance report as reason for buying beaten down stocks.
The Dow Industrials ended up 75.42 points or 0.63 percent at 12,124 and the S&P 500 Index closed at 1,289, up 9.44 points or 0.74 percent.
The kind of share to buy when markets refuse to take off
The kind of share to buy when markets refuse to take off
After a lot of huffing and puffing over the first six months of the year, the stock market has barely moved from where it started. But if you look at the chart over the past 12 months, the picture looks rather worse.
It is shaped like a gentle hill on the South Downs, gradually rising up to a nice viewing place at just over 6,000 on the FTSE 100 index but then, since the beginning of May, gently descending the other side. The line is, as Richard Lake, a chartist, used to say, “turning over”.
Why is the market depressed? I don’t think it is just the Greek debt crisis. I suspect that money – the quantity of it – is just as much the root of the evil. The US and Britain went in for quantitative easing following the big financial crisis in 2008 – injecting cash into the system. But now these programmes have wound down.
Stop Paying Bank Account Fees – Best Banks with Free Checking
Is your bank charging you a ton of fees for account maintenance, withdrawing your own money, or writing more than two checks per month? If so you aren’t alone, as most “name-brand” popular banks are coming up with anything they can to charge you fees for. While complaining loudly may make some account holders feel better about the fees, it won’t make the banks stop charging them! I used to bank with Bank of America and I felt like I was being dinged every week for any little thing I wanted from my bank, so I changed to a much better bank which I will talk about a little later in this post. But before I get to that, let’s take a quick look at the kind of fees and penalties that three popular banks are charging their customers, and then we’ll see what we can do to move away from them and into a much better banking relationship.
First up, let’s look at Chase Bank. Chase’s stand
This Robot Will Do Your Business Traveling for You
Entrepreneur: Trevor Blackwell, founding partner in seed-stage venture funding firm Y Combinator; former principal at Viaweb, the first point-and-click internet storefront system that later became Yahoo! Store; Harvard grad and recreational hacker. His latest project: QB, a “personal avatar” , developed by Anybots, his Mountain View, Calif., robotics company.
The bot: Don’t call it HAL–it’s sort of like Skype on a Segway, only more geeked-out. The 35-pound, two-wheeled, self-balancing bot has two-way audio and video so users can interact remotely with co-workers or customers. QB–named thusly because the first model was QA–has a microphone, speakers, a 5-megapixel camera and a GPS-size video screen on its head, which is attached to its mobile bottom with an adjustable pole. QB connects to the internet through Wi-Fi.