Oil and Gold prices near record highs with Bhutto assassination
December 28, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Oil and gold prices both hover just below all time highs as of this morning (December 27), following the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. As with any political assassination, unrest tends to have an impact on world pricing depending on the location and nature of the tragic event. Read more
Is This Lack Of Worry Normal?
December 27, 2007 | Leave a Comment
There can be little doubt that even as the stresses in the credit market have spilled over into other financial markets, the reaction of the public has been muted. In the UK, other than the collapse of Northern Rock hitting the headlines, the credit crunch has been largely ignored. In the US the picture is the same, a benign indifference to the loss of over 200 mortgage lending operations and the huge losses and write-downs suffered by banks and financial companies Read more
New Year’s resolutions for US housing market
December 25, 2007 | Leave a Comment
As 2007 comes to an end, many investors, home owners, and creditors in the US are hoping for a strong turnaround in housing and mortgages for 2008. While there are still opportunities for the markets to extend their slumps into the New Year, there are some signs of hope and some reasons to believe the markets could be finding their footing. Read more
Mortgage rates hold historic lows as foreclosures fall in November
December 21, 2007 | Leave a Comment
According to Bankrate.com surveys, conventional 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgage loan rates remain near all time lows since average rate data was first collected (1985). This week’s average 30-year fixed loan rate is 5.8%, virtually steady from last week, while the popular refinance loan, the 15-year fixed rate dropped three basis points from the prior week to around 5.36% currently. Read more
Credit Default Swaps – An Example In Real Time
December 20, 2007 | Leave a Comment
In that almost mystical way in which co-incidence happens, a real time occurrence of the risks I outlined in A Beginners Guide To Credit Default Swaps has appeared. With excellent timing S&P downgraded the rating of ACA Capital Holdings Inc to CCC or, as it is known, junk. Whilst not a happy occurrence, it does give us the chance to walk through the consequences. Read more
Oil still threatens $100, US government passes new fuel efficiency standards
December 19, 2007 | Leave a Comment
An announcement this morning that Turkish soldiers went into northern Iraq to go after Kurdish rebels sparked a rise of nearly $2.00 in crude oil trade this morning (December 18), a 1.9% gain. Crude oil has fallen back slightly after approaching $100 per barrel during November. Read more
A Beginners Guide To Credit Default Swaps
December 18, 2007 | Leave a Comment
We hear and see the alphabet of the derivatives world thrown around with gay abandon, like so much confetti at the Brides third (and definitely for the last time, she insists) wedding. Often the word “bond” is thrown into the mix, just to spice up the play, not unlike the bridesmaids, who at 2 and 0 for successful marital bliss, scrum down for the prize of catching that bouquet one more time to hope for a third attempt. Read more
Some economists concerned US dollar on verge of major collapse
December 14, 2007 | Leave a Comment
As the US dollar hovers below its record lows against the major European currencies and many other world currencies, some economists and foreign exchange market professionals have expressed concern that the dollar may be on the brink of a major collapse. Read more
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