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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mishedlo who wrote (18847)	9/22/2004 7:32:23 AM
From: russwinter	Respond to of 110194

mbaa.org WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 22, 2004)—The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 17. The Market Composite Index of mortgage loan applications - a measure of mortgage loan applications - was 690.7, an increase of 1.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 678.2 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased by 26.4 percent compared with last week but was down 1.5 percent compared with the same week one year earlier. The MBA seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased by 0.2 percent to 456.6 from 455.7 the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Refinance Index increased by 4.1 percent to 2052.5 from 1972.5 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Purchase Index has increased 13.6 percent while the Refinance Index has decreased 15.5 percent when compared with levels one year ago. Other seasonally adjusted index activity included the Conventional Index, which increased 2.1 percent to 1028.3 from 1007.2 the previous week. The Government Index decreased 1.2 percent to 127.4 from 129.0 the previous week. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 44.5 percent of total applications from 43.2 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 33.1 percent of total applications from 33.0 percent the previous week. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.66 percent from 5.68 percent one week earlier, with points decreasing to 1.29 from 1.36 the previous week (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.02 percent from 5.03 percent one week earlier, with points decreasing to 1.30 from 1.38 the previous week (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 3.89 percent from 3.86 percent one week earlier, with points decreasing to 1.03 from 1.20 from the previous week (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

To: mishedlo who wrote (18847)	9/22/2004 7:52:01 AM
From: russwinter	Respond to of 110194

ConAgra is a huge food company. From their quarterly report this AM: Bruce Rohde, chairman and chief executive officer, commented, "Our first quarter sales were very strong, reflecting excellent volumes for many of our brands. Our sales and marketing initiatives are gaining significant momentum, and we are pleased with the progress." Rohde continued, "And because we have taken some price increases and reduced operating expenses in several areas, our overall operating profit this quarter was solid, but it was not as strong as we wanted; this was mainly due to significantly increased input costs across the industry. As we plan for the balance of this fiscal year, we expect to continue making price adjustments to offset increased input costs, as well as to continue growing volumes and capitalizing on cost savings opportunities so that we strengthen margins throughout the year."