Clint 's Blog

Been awhile since I got a new post up here, crazy week of work can do that to you. Volatile is becoming an overused term anymore but I swear that's being redefined every week. This week was no exception. The Dow has been on wicked roller coaster and closed the weekend down, after trading in a 567...

2/3rd of the people writing mortgages a year ago are now doing something else. 66% of the industry is gone. I would guess that the same will be true for Realtors, appraisers, closing attorney's, etc., not to mention builders, in about 6 months, maybe less, thanks to the little 'lag window' in the...

Not getting into it, just feel obligated to update you on where things closed. Dow was down 128 points at the close, finished the week at 8,451. S&P shed 10 points to close at 899 and the good old NASDAQ actually picked up 4 points to close at 1,649. We have a holiday Monday for the markets so th...

The first assumption that has to be made is that you have some optimistic tendencies or you wouldn't still be in the business. If my first assumption is incorrect, then you have not been paying attention and had you been paying attention, you most likely wouldn't have gotten out of the bed this m...

The quick answer on "why this is important." Because your clients will ask you about it and if you don't know the answer, you fuel their fear. And as we've discussed, fear kills deals. Bottom line. If you, their real estate professional, don't have some grip on the financial markets, then you can...

The FNMA 5.5% bond jumped around in a 53bp range today but was under profit-taking pressure because of the recent jumps. All surges have to have little retreats in order to sustain themselves and that's pretty much what we saw today. The bond wrapped up the day trading 19bp lower to close at $100...

Crazy week last week, global markets didn't get that 'rejuvination' needed over the weekend apparently. The Dow fell as much as 800 points during today's trading before mustering up a rally to close "only down 370 points" on fears that the bailout package may have been too little too late to stem...

First the wrap up on the week, then the move forward ideas and suggestions. Our benchmark FNMA 5.5% mortgage bond was in the red most of the day before recovering losses late in the session to move 6bp higher to close at $100.25. Mortgage bonds moved lower and stocks higher initially following a ...

Updated: 2:35 pm- Congress passed the rescue bill this afternoon. Stocks pare a decent amount of their earlier gains, the Dow is up 81 points compared to the 250 it was up to earlier in the day. Nasdaq has cracked 2000 and stayed there, up 24 so far and the S&P is looking at 12 points higher sinc...

-159,000 jobs lost compared to an estimated -104,000. Unemployment rate 6.1%, as expected. Hourly Earnings +.3% on a +.2% estimated. Average work week 33.6 on an estimate of 33.7. Jobs lost was more than expected but other figures come in close to or on the number. Markets react positively to the...