Bernanke sees end value in bailout...Fannie Freddie moneys profit to come

In a CNN money article titled Bernanke: Fed will make profit on bailout, we read that the head of the Federal Reserve is feeling confident that the money spent in the Fannie and Freddie bailout has a good chance to become a profit for the government. Hearing this so soon comes as a surprise because all I hear on the streets is negative. Anytime I search out economic updates and read articles from well credited writers on the economy, it seems like I hear more and more positive posts...soothsayers speak negative but media writers positive. For example, if you ask your local family member friend who forwards all the politcal emails, or "the next guy", the feeling is negative.
Is America's team a good comparison to America's voting public? It seems like the Dallas Cowboy fan is a good metaphor to a profile of the American citizen as it relates to a fan or not of the political games played during these up and down times. When the market is thick, dense, and bullish, the American is smiling and has all hope and no worries. Then, any negative dip, their ready to shoot their quarterback but reserve just enough spirit to have an open mind for the next "game". Winning a couple games isn't good enough for the Cowboy fan. They have to win the Super Bowl or the season is a bust. It appears that we are winning little games one day, one week, and months at a time in our economy...do we have to win it all at once for the majority to be happy. Progress, not perfection is my way of looking at it.
When Bernanke spoke of the money the government will make back and profit from, he was not speaking of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The TARP program is not expected to have the same positive turnout as the bailout money, and the positive side to that is that it wasn't as large as the bailout...win one big battle and lose a smaller.
Tracking the programs and their returns.

Halloween Riddles

Q: How do you mend a broken jack-o-lantern?
A: With a pumpkin patch.

Q: What did one ghost say to another ghost?
A: “Do you believe in people?”

Q: Why don’t mummies take vacations?
A: They’re afraid they’ll relax and unwind.

Q: Why didn’t the skeleton dance at the party?
A: He had no body to dance with.

Super Low Rates Again, Frisco! Employment-Bad, Earnings-Good

We have seen consecutive days all week long of a better mortgage rate market. Rates are now at rock bottom again, and I think maybe for the last time before we see the recovery of our economy begin to ramp up. Ted Jones, the Chief Economist of Stewart Title North Texas, believes that the recovery will also bring higher rates. This means that because signs show that we are closer now than ever in the recent years to a recovery, we are also closer to interest rates going up...unless Bernanke has something super up his sleeve.

The unemployment report by the Labor Department reported that we still saw 216,000 jobs lost last month, so we are still seeing a large number of people losing jobs, but we saw less job losses than The Labor Department expected...so that is better than we hoped, therefore moving in the right direction.

Earnings on the other hand are doing better. There was a .3% increase in earnings...meaning the people in America are losing jobs, but the ones keeping there jobs are seeing an overall increase in their pay.

Take note on this thought. As we start the recovery in America, and interest rates for mortgages start going up, we'll have a larger qualifying number of possible home buyers, but since rates will be higher, the monthly costs for the homes will be higher. My point: The principle and interest payment for a $200,000 loan today at 4.875% is $1,058.97. Rates are expected to go as high as 7.5% in the next two years. These means that same home with the $200,000 loan at 7.5% would have a payment of $1,398.76...$339.79 more a month. So the home that you want and can afford today, may not be the home you can afford to buy in two years.

If you are looking to move in the next couple years, it may be time to buy now before you can't afford it in the years to come. If you would like a better explanation of how waiting may price you out of the market, go to Ted's Blog and read what he says.

2009 Frisco Economic Forecast by Stewart Title North Texas

How is the Frisco buyer's market effected by the economy and how might home sales finish out in 2009 in relation to the first half of the year? Will 2010 be a better year for the home buying and mortgage markets than 2009?

2009 Stewart Title Economic Forecast

Discussion at Park Cities Club
with Ted C. Jones, PhD, Senior VP — Chief Economist for Stewart Title Guaranty Company

Please Join Ted C. Jones, PhD for this discussion

Ted is the Director of Investor Relations for Stewart Information Services Corporation and also Senior Vice President-Chief Economist for Stewart Title Guaranty Company...he addresses the information needs of stockholders, conducts on-going research and supports economic and financial analysis for the company and its customers. An accomplished speaker, he typically gives more than 150 presentations on real estate and the economic outlook each year.

Wednesday, September 2ND
3:00pm – 5:00pm
Park Cities Club
5956 Sherry Lane – Top Floor
view map
Hosted by:
The Mavis Kilgore Team
Stewart Title North Dallas Office
Space is Limited So Please Reply Early!
RSVP to teresa.lynch@stewart.com