The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey slipped to 88.4 in March, down from February’s 91.3 and its lowest level in six months. Why should you care about the UofM survey? In a nutshell, you shouldn’t. But, you sort of have to. Here’s why: Consumer confidence is considered important by markets because hundreds of “real [...]

Ben Bernanke delivered a prepared speech to the congressional Joint Economic Committee Wednesday in which he stated that inflation is “somewhat elevated”, but that it’s no reason to expect a Fed Funds Rate hike anytime soon. Some of Chairman Bernanke’s more salient points: Economic growth has slowed because of a “substantial correction” in the housing [...]

Oil prices are down since last year overall, mostly because the political risk has been removed from pricing. Last night, though, a rumored Iranian attack on a U.S. ship in the Persian Gulf showed how quickly markets can flip if oil supply is threatened. Immediately, the political risk of tightened oil supply found its way [...]

The pie chart at right comes from a Bankrate.com survey, sampling 1,000 adults about their current housing situation. The question asked: What type of mortgage do you currently have? While the 34% “Don’t Know” figure is troubling, even more frightening is the 6% “ARM” figure. The sample size was small, but far more than 6% [...]

The Fed held the Fed Funds Rate at 5.250% last week and included verbiage in its Press Release that the FFR may have to come down before it goes up again. This gave investors reason to cheer and the stock market rallied to its best week in four years. Mortgage rates did not fare as [...]

As a consumer, it’s very easy to be misled by newspaper headlines. Today provides a great example. “Sales of Existing Homes Up 3.9% For The Biggest Monthly Gains In Three Years” What was not mentioned in the headline was that total inventory rose by 5.9%, adding more supply than for which there is demand. More [...]

Ben Bernanke and the Federal Open Market Committee spoke with ambiguity yesterday in electing to keep the Fed Funds Rate at 5.250%. So far, mortgage rates have benefited. A major goal of the Fed is to manage the expectations of markets. Therefore, what the Fed does is sometimes not as important as what it says. [...]

This afternoon, the Fed adjourns after a two-day meeting and it is widely expected that they will leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged at 5.250%. So, what is the Fed Funds Rate and why does it matter to everyday people? The Fed Funds Rate matters to you and me because it is used to calculate [...]

Mortgage rates are somewhat restrained today as the Fed begins its two-day meeting. As reported by the Census Bureau, Housing Starts — defined as the number of units for which construction began — surprised to the high-side, despite a cold February. The 9% increase over January showed relative strength, but when compared to February 2006, [...]

Sub-prime mortgage news dominated the headlines this past week as the Chicken Littles were out in full force. Perhaps the fears of a credit crunch are overblown, but then again, perhaps there’s reason to worry. Like everything else in the world of economics, it all comes down to expectations. Markets makes predictions about the future [...]