Update #4/ Week of July 20 2009

Good Morning Everyone and Happy Thursday! Well, we’ve talked about the volatility that’s going to be the case during this earnings season. A slew of earnings reports today, and it doesn’t really matter if the companies are profitable or not, it’s the upbeat tone of the forecast going forward that’s getting traders all excited. Of course the tone is going to be upbeat . . . what else could it be? Traders are definitely buying in today and the stock markets are in rally mode. Good for our 401(k)’s, but not so good for mortgage pricing. We’re about .25 off in rebate from where we were yesterday morning at this time, not too bad.

The credit markets are suffering again today at the expense of the equity markets’ surge. Investors like that fast money, and it’s hard for safe havens to attract these monies when stocks are going crazy like this. Thus, interest rates rise to attract the cash back to the credit markets, and thus we have a rise in rates. Initial jobless claims came in as expected, but the continuing claims continue to fall. This is good news, over all, for the economy, and is having a positive effect on the stock market today.

The NAR reported that existing home sales for June were up to an annualized rate of 4.89 million. That is up from 4.72 million rate posted in May. Sales are up because of all the great deals out there on the foreclosures at the low end of the market, but regular MLS / average priced homes are still struggling to get off the sales block. We’ll take any positive news in housing at this point!

I’ll be in the office all day today if you need me. Call me here or better yet email me for faster response. Have a terrific Thursday!