About Beaverton's Cedar Hills, West Slope, Bethany, Rock Creek, Oak Hills, Garden Homes

Hello Friends, Well despite some positive economic reports released today, traders are selling off some of their gains this week on mortgage backed securities and with the instability of the financial giants in Lehman Brothers and WAMU is causing the DOW to be slightly in the red this morning. The good news is that in August, wholesale prices are down for the first time in 2008, likely due to the recent free fall in oil prices. Also released today was the PPI (producer price index), that too came in with a surprisingly low number, actually the sharpest decline in 2 years. The PPI is a key report our Fed bank watches to see the impact of inflation on the market. Finally, Univ. of Michigan's consumer sentiment report had a 9 point jump in confidence in the economy which surprised analysts. We may see a temporary spike in gas prices at the pump due to Hurricane Ike's anticipated damage to the refineries in the gulf of Mexico. I think we will see mortgage backed securities close in the black today with optimism of rates improving more next week. Have a great weekend as always, Be Blessed! Travis

Hello Friends! 9/11, September 11th, boy do those numbers and days have meaning now! I have a few clients that share their birthday today with those tragic events of 2001, and it must feel awkward to celebrate and think of that horrific memory that occurred that day. Thank God for the blessings and changes that have taken place since then and the good that did come from such a terrible day. The market is slow today in part to the dark cloud over Wall Street and the memories that go with it. There are global events going on though that is causing some market activity. The dollar is on a rally against the Euro and oil prices have almost dropped below $100 a barrel, currently hovering at $101. On the home front, bad news for jobs, initial jobless claims have gone up higher than expected, the highest reading since Sept of 2003. Finally, Lehman Brothers, the 4th largest investment bank in the world had their stock devalued by Moody's this morning, which is about the worst thing that can happen for a shareholder. This morning a share of LB stock is at $4.50 a share, down from $67 in November, quite scary. Please watch the video for more details. Have a blessed day! Travis

Hello Friends! Great day for mortgage backed securities and an improvement in mortgage rates. Right now as I type, mortgage backed securities have improved in price by as much as 72 basis points. What does that mean? Yesterday the $400,000 loan you locked in costs about $2800 less in fee today then yesterday, so this is a very good thing. Or at least .125% better in interest rates on a note you could lock in. The main reason is not earth shattering, just technical factors really. I mentioned in the past moving averages that cause ceilings of resistance and floors of support mortgage backed securities bounce around in. Please watch the video for more details. Also, I am heading down to California for a family reunion so my updates will not be live again until next week unless I am really motivated down there and the family is driving me crazy. Be Blessed!