GDP Swings Low, Sweet …
Well it is official, we’re contracting. Consumers are hoarding their cash (taking queues from the banking sector). Unlike the recession of 2001 consumers will not be borrowing their way through hard time–try to find a home equity line of credit these days.
They’re calling it a recession:
“This is the first of a run of negative G.D.P. numbers,” said Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics. “The economy is in recession.” He predicted that the economy would shrink at an annual rate of about 1 percent in each of the next two quarters.
Consumer spending makes up a little more than two-thirds of economic activity in the United States, more than it did in past decades. The rest is a combination of business spending, government spending and the net difference between exports and imports.
What the Hell is Going on With Mortgage Rates
No body breaks down mortgage rates and trends like my friend Dan Green of The Mortgage Reports:
It’s been an all-or-nothing-like market lately. Investors either clamor for risk in the stock markets, or seek safety in government treasuries. The result is that the “middle ground” product — mortgage-backed securities — is getting largely ignored.
Get his frequent, throughout the day, Twitter mortgage rate updates.
Non-Agency Mortgage Bonds Collapse and Paulson Reviewed
This is a couple of day old, but said with passion. Those are the pieces I like to read best, whether I agree or not. Mike Shedlock takes on Congress, Paulson, and Bernanke as he analyzes the collapse of non-agency mortgage bonds–so much for affordable housing and keeping a lid on mortgage rates!
The sad story is no one in power has learned a damn thing from the Great Depression, and that includes many highly respected economic professors. In the final analysis, the more money Congress, Paulson, and Bernanke waste attempting to stimulate demand, the lower the stock market will fall.
Zero Percent Interest Rate Policy Ahead?
The Big Picture takes a look at the possibility of the Fed benchmark rate going to 0 percent. Everybody pull out their Japanese economic history books–it wasn’t too long ago.
Google Recession Indicator
I love looking at daily life indicators of the economy. Here is another one–No more free lunches at Google.
Renters for Obama
Looks like apartment dwellers and renters are throwing in for Obama. I guess we know who voters think has the best renters’ economic plan. Those surveyed overwhelming listed the economy as their number one concern, at 89.9 percent.
Renters overwhelming favor Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. John McCain in next week’s presidential election, according to the latest survey by Apartments.com.
The survey of 1,110 apartment renters reported that 59.1% favor Obama while 23.2% will vote for McCain, 9.2% declined to answer and 5.6% were undecided.
Stop Being Bearish
From my favorite market heretic:
Grab yourself by the socks and man up. You will not make back your losses in 2 years or 3 so deal with it.
Investing is hard. It is a priviledge, not a right. Borrowing was supposed to be a priviledge too, but YOU abused it. Capital one just sold it.
Lot’s of innocent people are getting hurt. It’s called collateral damage. It’s called LIFE. Life is difficult.
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I am Bill Rice the Managing Editor of MortgageLoan.com. These are my morning notes. If you have comments, feedback, or pointers to something interesting email me or follow me on Twitter.
(photo credit: ny post)
About Bill Rice