Kevin Hawkins's (kevinhawkins) Blog

Stocks were down for the week, but only slightly, falling sideways, if you will. This seemed to stem from general investor unease over the U.S. budget deficit, the European debt crisis and a mixed reaction to Q1 corporate earnings. Alcoa beat estimates, but revenues were off. JPMorgan Chase toppe...

Two of the most powerful words in business are "thank you." Let your customers and employees know how much you appreciate them. Say "thank you" often. Even better, write them a note--not an email, text or Tweet, but an old-fashioned, hand-written, personal note! From my weekly enewsletter for rea...

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) predicts rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages could rise a bit in the second half of this year. They see this gradual rise in mortgage rates continuing, even if the Federal Funds rate does not increase for another six to 12 months, as many economists expect...

Forecasting Federal Reserve policy changes in coming months...Last week's benign inflation readings mean the Fed can hold onto its rock bottom rates a while longer. Economists expect this to be the situation in the near term. Note: In the lower chart, a 1% probability of change is a 99% certaint...

Economic Calendar for the Week of April 18 - April 22  Date Time (ET) Release For Consensus Prior Impact TuApr 19 08:30 Housing Starts Mar 520K 479K Moderate TuApr 19 08:30 Building Permits Mar 538K 517K Moderate WApr 20 10:00 Existing Home Sales Mar 5.00M 4.88M Moderate WApr 20 10:30 Crude Inven...

Optimists received some encouragement from data aggregator CoreLogic, who reported that home prices fell again in February, but the price drops appeared mostly with distressed sales--short sales and bank-owned homes, otherwise known as REO properties. Excluding these, the CoreLogic index was esse...

DID YOU KNOW?...The Commerce Department reported the average price of a new home sold in December was the highest it's been since July 2008--$291,400. From my weekly e-newsletter for real estate professionals, INSIDE LENDING, April 11, 2011

Avoid the hard sell--a soft sell approach is actually far more effective. Satisfy your customers' needs and wants. Discover their pain points and be their problem solver. Do what really is best for your customer and see your reputation and business grow. From my weekly e-newsletter for real estat...

Review of Last Week... Our representatives in Washington waited until the last minute to agree on budget cuts and avoid the first Federal government shutdown in 15 years. The media had a field day, but investors largely ignored it, understanding that the last thing any government wants to do is p...

 Forecasting Federal Reserve policy changes in coming months...Friday, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher said the Fed is close to the point at which it has to start reversing its "accommodative" monetary policy (i.e., raise the Funds rate). But economists still don't expect that until much late...