Weekend Update September 4

30 Yr Fixed Conforming – 6.375%

15 Yr Fixed Conforming – 5.875%

30 Yr Fixed Jumbo 6.5%

5/1 LIBOR ARM – 6% (w/ 1pt)

7/1 LIBOR ARM – 6.25% (w/ 1 pt)

30 Yr FHA – 6.375%

Decent week for rates as they all dropped between .125% and .25%.

As much as the media belly-aches about our economy, it is actually moving along at a nice clip and, although painful in some sectors. This is especially true when compared to the rest of the world. If you don’t believe me, consider this. The first thing we talk about in Econ 101 is “Opportunity Costs”. That new car is awesome but there was an opportunity cost of many thousands of dollars to get it. Just because you had to spend your money doesn’t mean you made a bad choice (as long as you can afford it). The same is true in every aspect of our economy. The dollar value goes down but that increases our world exports; our economy as a whole is more productive but we need fewer people to do the work. We need to look beyond the cost that the media writes about and weigh the positive behind the story. My articles this week are good examples of that. A keen eye will see through the negative in the headline.

Links:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/03/news/exports_commodities.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008090407

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/04/news/economy/workforce.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008090409