Mortgage Marketing Blogs

The sharpest drop in housing prices in 50 years poses a "significant" risk to the U.S. economy, but the Fed's rate cuts should be felt in the second half of the year, according to one Fed official on Friday.

Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said the U.S. housing market is a small part of GDP but the slump, the effects of which are widespread, may last longer than anticipated.

Rosengren said it is important for servicers to help economic growth by making loan modifications where appropriate...

Inflation remains contained and personal spending continued improving according to the latest report from the U.S. Commerce Department on Friday. Economists said the Fed will be pleased to see that consumers are holding in there despite weakness in the broader economy, though in real terms the 0.2% gain in personal spending was flat.

Fixed income strategist T.J. Marta from RBC Capital Markets said the big picture is that there is "no resolution to the conflicting problems confronting a dual-mandated Fed...

Speaking on 'Money Markets and Financial Stability' at the New York Fed's conference on money markets on Thursday night, Fed Vice-Chairman Donald Kohn (voter) said it was unclear how much strengthening of the U.S. financial regulatory system was needed, but that the need for reforms was evident.

"As I noted at the outset, one important lesson from recent developments is that we need to devote greater attention to money markets...

Canadian Q1 and March GDP and core PCE in the U.S. will dominate the economic news of the day as markets prepare for the final trading day of May. In addition to comments from the Fed and Canadian finance ministers, markets will also be paying attention to European Central Bankers on Friday.

At 8:30 a.m. EDT, the U.S. Commerce Department will release its personal income and spending report for April. Economists are expecting personal spending to rise 0.2% month-over-month after picking up 0.4% in the previous month.

At 9:45 a.m. EDT, markets will receive the Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index for May, which is expected to...

On Thursday morning, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced its intentions to conclude arrangements for the financing of JPMorgan's acquisition of Bear Stearns by June 26 and finish valuating the investment bank's portfolio.

"The New York Fed, in coordination with JPMorgan Chase, is working carefully and expeditiously to...

Speaking in San Francisco on Thursday, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher said he expects "a change of course in monetary policy to occur sooner rather than later, even in the face of an anemic economic scenario."

"I would expect a change of course in monetary policy to occur sooner rather than later, even in the face of...

Preliminary U.S. GDP, jobless claims and comments from the Fed's Ben Bernanke, Donald Kohn and Timothy Geithner will highlight the North American economic releases along with weekly oil inventories from the Department of Energy and the first-quarter current account balance from Canada.

Minneapolis Fed President Gary Stern said on Wednesday that inflation expectations will be determined by how the Federal Reserve raises rates.

On housing, Stern said the housing downturn looks more severe than the 1990s shock, noting that the residential housing inventory remains large and the housing adjustment is ongoing...

Federal Governor Frederic S. Mishkin submitted his resignation today to President George W. Bush. Mishkin will be leaving his post on Aug. 31, 2008.

Mishkin has been a member of the board since Sept. 5, 2006. Mishkin's term was set to expire on Jan. 13, 2014.

Mishkin has said that he will be...

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday that it had reached a proposed settlement with the National Association of Realtors (NAR) to end a long-simmering dispute over the use of multiple listings on the Internet.

The basis of the dispute and an eventual anti-trust lawsuit against NAR filed in 2005 was what DOJ called "policies and related rules that obstructed real estate brokers who use innovative Internet-based tools to offer..