I recently refinanced my in-laws from a 20 year mortgage to a 30 year mortgage and did that create a stir. Most of the family told them they were getting older and they should refinance to a shorter mortgage term. With Milwaukee mortgage rates hitting close to record lows I suggested that they take a longer term loan. A 4.5% percent 30 year is no different then a 4.25% 15 year they would have received if they would have refinanced two years ago. The difference is working with a realistic budget....

Mortgage Backed Securities are Minus 9 this morning.

Frankie Valli will be performing at Festa Italiana on Sunday July 24th. I would have to guess that part of the show will include "Grease is the Word". It seems that every week we are talking about this small country and its effects on the world stage. This week the Greek Parliament will vote on austerity measures. Here is a excerpt from Marketwatch.

“If the austerity package is passed by the Greek parliament,...

New home sales were up 11% from February to March. WOW the recovery is finally here. What the headline does not tell you is February had the worst reading of new home starts in a few years. The 11% only brings us back to the flat number we had in January and is down 21.9% from last March's reading.. Here is a CNBC article: http://www.cnbc.com/id/42749735 The author seems to share my sentiment. "Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to see the sales numbers going in the right direction; I just questioning...

Mortgaged Backed Securities are Minus 3bps this morning.

I waited until this afternoon to write the commentary because there was nothing happening early in the bond markets. It is now noon Milwaukee time and MBS are basically flat. Volume seems to be decreasing as we get later in the day. Traders appear to be excited about the first official weekend of summer. Reports released today showed GDP was in line and durable goods orders were slightly higher than anticipated.

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Mortgage Backed Securities are Plus 31bps this morning. Making today a great day to lock your mortgage home loan.

The markets are reacting to the speech given by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. He said the Fed will end QE2 on schedule June 30th. He also revised down the GDP forecast for next year and admitted to slow steady growth. This started to hit the markets yesterday afternoon. It spilled over to pre market trading this morning with Dow futures down almost 100 point before weekly...