James Bowen

Well the market today is seeing the effects of yesterdays big gains as investors are cashing in on their profits. It is also weary of upcoming important corporate earnings reports. Just how deep has the "recession" trended. Will these Federal Interventions actually turn the tide...there is some evidence of loosening credit nooses as LIBOR dropped for 6 straight days. But, are these savings in overnight Bank to Bank lending going to be passed on to the consumer? Once again, however Wall St.'s woes are your gains. TNOTE yield is down close to .15% which has had a very positive outcome on mortgage rates. You can now buy your rate down to 5.375% (cost is 1.299 PTS) on a 30 year term and 5.125% (cost is .996 PT.) on a 15 year term. Par rates are BELOW 6% at roughly 5.75% for 30 year terms and 15 year are at 5.375%. It seems to me to be a good time to lock if your waiting for the big reduction. It is happening now. You may find better pricing later in day if market keeps losing ground. So, again, keep your eyes on the 10 Yr. TNOTE Yield and ALWAYS CHECK WITH YOUR MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL REGARDING YOUR TRANSACTION

THIS IS MY OPINION ONLY AND NOT THAT OF EAGLE NATIONWIDE MORTGAGE CO.

My computer decided not to load all the way this morning so I had to take it in and now I'm stuck at the Library for the next few days checking emails and writing my blogs. I hope to be able to keep up with my daily posts, but forgive me if I can't.

Anyway, last week sure did top the charts for the strangest, wildest ride in the Stock market's history. I expect to see more of the same this week, so don't freak out with the wide daily swings. I do hope that some of you were able to lock last week or the week before, when rates seemed to improve quicker than to deteriorate. I saw about a 3/4 point swing to the worse last week, not necessary to rates, but to pricing. As a wholesale broker, rates come with a buydown, at PAR or with YSP that a bank is willing to pay to send them the loan. Rates can be obtained less than 6% as a PAR rate for a 30 year term and less that 5.75% PAR on a 15 year term. So, even though we experience panic selling and fickle investing these days, rates are still as low they have been in many months. I'll do my best to keep you posted on rate activity while my PC is the hospital, but watch the 10 year treasury yield and you can tell the direction of rates. Remember that yield moves opposite demand, so as investors seek safety of bonds, yield goes down, but the transaction is safer, yet less yielding than the quick big hits that can be made in stocks if the investor acts within a small window of opportunity.

Always check with your mortgage professional regarding your own transaction.

THIS IS MY OPINION ONLY AND NOT THAT OF EAGLE NATIONWIDE BANK.

Once again sorry for a bit of a "break in the blogging action". I took the family to the Adirondack Mountains in Northern NY for the long weekend. (My wife's and my 21st anniversary) So I'm going to sway away from the markets briefly to plug the beauty of the state in the fall. I'm sure folks from NY and especially the Adirondack region know exactly what I'm referring to. The weather was fantastic (mid 70's!! during the day and clear and cool at night) and the colors were even better. While the "reds" had begun to fall, the "yellows" and "golds" were in full glory. My wife always thinks of a tapestry with the colors and swears we will have that color array sometime in our home. She wants a carpet with that scheme. Green, Deep red, Yellow, Gold, you know...the color of fall in Ny. I finally felt comfortable letting the kids (14 yr old twin boys) loose to kayak on 4th Lake ( what a great view from the pier/point we were staying at especially with the sun out all day.) While I enjoy that activity, I wouldn't even try to keep up with them. We stay in a very inexpensive housekeeping cabin that has seen better days, but hey...it's the Adirondacks. The whole key to this area is the people. It takes a special breed to live up there, and I always see that when we go there. Plus we go to a place called the "Red Dog" and they have the BEST RIBS AND PRIME RIB I'VE EVER HAD. All in all this was a very RELAXING stay for us in THE BEST PLACE TO BE IN NY IN THE FALL.

Oh, I chose to put work aside for that time as well and I'm just now getting caught back up, so pardon me for not talking more about the markets. But, I think you are all paying pretty close attention these days. Let me comment briefly on rates. Yesterday was a 4 rate change day. Up, then down, then down more...that followed 2 days of continual rising. So depending on where we go today, rates could again approach the 6% level. They were under that a week ago, but have fluctuated widely over the past week. AND WHAT A WEEK IN WAS! I'll get back to market watching over the next few days.

THIS IS MY OPINION ONLY AND NOT THAT OF EAGLE NATIONWIDE MORTGAGE CO.ALWAYS CHECK WITH YOUR MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL REGARDING YOUR OWN TRANSACTION.

After a worldwide banking rate cut of 1/2 point which was supposedly spurred on by the FED ( I'm not really sure if the Fd led the way or felt compelled and responsible to act based on the Global upheaval), how long before we see the Big 3 show the drop in conjunction with the FED action? Wells has already done it, so hopefully it will be adopted by the Major Players sooner than later. Is this what it will take for those with credit cards and HE lines to be able to finally get some relief? Will this spur some confidence in the Economy to eventually overcome the deep rut we find ourselves in?

It may have come just in the time to help reverse the extreme drop off in consumer spending as reported by retailers across the board. But is it enough to have an effect on bank to bank lending rates which again jumped overnight. Unless these rates begin to drop back, it will continue to be tougher and tougher for folks to actually take advantage of the Fed action and predicted corresponding prime drop if banks still won't grant credit to those small businesses and consumers who are truly capable of fulfilling a contract to repay.

There should be a positive start to the markets sentiment today. We may see a increase to treasury yield as investors may choose to take some of their meager Treasury gains and once again test the stock market.

BUT FOLKS, rates are still way down from a year ago. Maybe this FED action will help some of you feel more comfortable taking action to purchase or refinance now. The time is now to get out of those ARMS from prior mortgage transactions. FIXED RATES ARE STILL BELOW 6%.

THIS IS MY OPINION ONLY AND NOT THAT OF EAGLE NATIONWIDE MORTGAGE CO. ALWAYS CHECK WITH YOUR MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL REGARDING YOUR TRANSACTION

Sorry for taking a couple days off from my blogging duties....I was in bed with a 103 fever all weekend. And, to be honest, looking at the market's continued reaction to the bailout I should have stayed in bed! A recent poll shows that 6 out 10 Americans think a depression is likely. What they should have polled was How many Americans are just plain DEPRESSED with what's happening to the economy. The DOW is now below 10,000 for the first time in 4 years (October,2004......hmmmm maybe October isn't such a great month for stocks) The NYSE had only 3% of it's stocks show green today. But, look at the bright side, the DOW was down 800 points at one point in the day, so it actually rallied for part of the day. Our mess has now infiltrated markets into Europe and Asia as well. You name the country, SELL was the name of the game. Russia, down 20%, Brazil, down 15%. Both of these exchanges actually had to suspend trade in order to regain some order.

With all the stock selling, where do you think investors hoarded their money? Into Treasuries of course. There was another huge run up today to go along with Fridays rally, once again dropping yield. 10 year note yield closed at 3.42%, down over 2 tenths from Fridays' close. Rates are beginning reflect the lower yield with PAR at 5.5% on a 30 year fixed term. 15 year rates are slightly better, but only by about 1/8 or so. Yield is now closer and closer to a 52 week low.

Other positives resulting from what's going on are that OIL is now under $90/BL (should translate to lower gas prices sometime!!) and the dollar gained ground on the EURO.

Expect more of the same all week----UP AND DOWN--we'll call it the teeter totter effect.

THIS IS MY OPINION ONLY AND NOT THAT OF EAGLE NATIONWIDE MORTGAGE CO. ALWAYS CHECK WITH YOUR MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL REGARDING YOUR TRANSACTION