Last night, as I was taunting my dog with a hunk of cheddar
cheese waved above her nose, the look in her eye reminded me that there is talk
among agents of a mythical refi boom. Not your parent’s refi boom, or the
48 minute refi boom in January, but a real one. Of course, the borrower has to be able to qualify,
which seems to be a big question these days. And the property has to be able to qualify, also a big question.
Agents and brokers seem to have lots of files on their desks, at this point not
waiting for a lower rate, but more likely trying to figure out a way to have
the borrower and property qualify. Details, details…
Rates have shot back up (the 10-yr is worse in price by over
2 points!), and instead of originators dusting off renegotiation policies,
they’ll be reviewing rate lock extension policies!
When I was a kid it was a source of fascination on my street
when a female dog was ready to, uh, “find a suitor”. It was also a
source of fascination, on nature shows, when vultures began circling a dying
animal, sensing that death was near. I don’t know which analogy is more
appropriate, but five banks have come forward to evaluate Washington Mutual’s financial records
as part of an auction process run by WaMu’s adviser. WaMu shares rose 14%
yesterday after news it had put itself up for sale. The five banks that have
looked through the WaMu materials include JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo,
Citigroup, HSBC and Banco Santander.
Yesterday it was reported that an RTC-type plan was being
worked on by the U.S.
government. The DOW rallied 600 points from the day's low, closing up 410
points, and rates moved higher. This has continued this morning: stocks will
open higher, and the yield on the 10-yr up to 3.78% and 30-yr mortgage prices
worse by .50. The Fed and Treasury are working on a creating a structure
that would help financial institutions remove illiquid assets from their
balance sheets, by some estimates as much as $500 billion that are difficult to
mark-to-market.
The SEC has also temporarily banned short-selling stock in
financial companies. Lastly, in another bold step to restore stability, the U.S. Treasury
said it will guarantee money market funds. It is going to
insure any publicly offered money market fund, both retail and institutional,
that pays a fee, and President Bush has authorized up to $50 billion in
protection, and Treasury said it's acting using the authority of the
“Exchange Stabilization Fund”. Money market funds saw nearly $90
billion of net investor cash pulled out Wednesday, among the largest single-day
drops in history.
Bubba and Earl are quietly sitting in a fishing boat.
Suddenly Bubba says, “I think I'm gonna divorce my
wife - she ain't spoke to me in over 2 months.”
Earl spits, sips his drink and says, 'Better think it
over... ......women like that are hard to find.”
or
Emma and Mary Lou are quietly sitting in a nail salon.
Suddenly Emma says, “I think I'm gonna divorce my
husband - he ain't spoke to me in over 2 months.”
Mary Lou clears her throat, sips her latte and says, 'Better
think it over... ......men like that are hard to find.”
Rob
