debrashultz.com

As crude oil crossed $80 a barrel Thursday, the Wall Street Journal ran an interactive poll with its readers.

What sustained price for gasoline would cause you to cut back on other household spending?

The graph above shows the on-going results of the non-scientific study. You can chime in, too, at http://forums.wsj.com/viewtopic.php?t=805.

As consumers cut back spending, [...]

Headlines today read that the value of gold is nearing its all-time high (adjusted for inflation). The lay people would ignore this story, but those in the know understand that the price of gold is usually reflective of the state of the global economy.

The spot price of gold tells a lot about investor psyche [...]

Mortgage rates “come from” one place only: the prices of mortgage bonds as determined by investors.

The higher the price, the lower the corresponding return, or rate.

Bonds — like stocks — are traded as securities. An investor may buy Microsoft stock if he thought the company’s future looked bright, and he may buy [...]

Line 901 of a mortgage settlement statement is commonly confused for a closing cost. It’s actually an “advance payment” on the mortgage.

Often called a per diem by mortgage professionals, line 901 itemizes a borrower’s prepaid mortgage interest charges due at closing. The total amount due equals the daily rate of interest multiplied by [...]

Weak employment data pushed mortgage rates lower last week. Against expectations of 110,000 new jobs created in August, last Friday’s Non-Farm Payrolls report showed a loss of 4,000 jobs.

The story made headlines all over the country this weekend but its connection to mortgage rates is not always clear. Here’s how the jobs report [...]

This morning, the government reported that the U.S. economy lost 4,000 jobs in August. Led by losses in manufacturing and in construction, this is the first time since 2003 that the economy has failed to add jobs in any given month.

Markets had been expecting a job gain of roughly 110,000, but many players on [...]

The Federal Open Market Committee meets September 18 and traders are aren’t quite sure what to expect with respect to the Fed Funds Rate.

Will the FFR stay unchanged? Will it FFR decrease? If it decreases, by how much? These are questions that are perplexing market participants.

Luckily, we can [...]

Yesterday was a rather drab day in mortgage circles — not much happened and mortgage rates idled. The bigger story was how liquidity appears to be slowly returning to some areas of the beaten-down mortgage market.

Specifically, liquidity is returning to prime, fixed-rate, full documentation jumbo loans and pricing appears to be improving (slightly).

The “prime” [...]

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke took the pulpit Friday in Jackson Hole but his remarks made little impact on mortgage bond trading.

The Fed is aware of economic issues related to housing and mortgage debt, Bernanke said.

He implied that the Fed wants more evidence that inflation has slowed before taking more drastic [...]