Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CalculatedRisk who wrote (16739)	11/24/2004 10:30:20 AM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

Greenberg all over MBIA Message 20797275

To: CalculatedRisk who wrote (16739)	11/24/2004 10:30:52 AM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 24, 2004)— The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending November 19. The Market Composite Index - a measure of mortgage loan application volume - was 715.0, a decrease of 5.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 758.3 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 2.5 percent compared with last week but was down 8.0 percent compared with the same week one year earlier. The MBA seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased by 3.5 percent to 463.3 from 480.3 the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Refinance Index decreased by 8.3 percent to 2179.3 from 2375.4 one week earlier. Other seasonally adjusted index activity included the Conventional Index, which decreased 5.3 percent to 1066.1 from 1125.2 the previous week. The Government Index decreased 11.5 percent to 129.2 from 146.0 the previous week. While the unadjusted Market Composite Purchase Index is up 1.8 percent compared with last year, the Conventional Purchase Index is up 11.2 percent and the Government Purchase Index is down 47.7 percent on a year-over-year basis. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 48.4 percent of total applications from 48.6 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained 34.0 percent of total applications. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.64 percent from 5.70 percent one week earlier, with points increasing to 1.36 from 1.27 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 remained at 5.08 percent, with points decreasing to 1.23 from 1.27 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 4.13 percent from 3.89 percent one week earlier, with points increasing to 0.99 from 0.97 from the previous week (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

To: CalculatedRisk who wrote (16739)	11/24/2004 10:46:46 AM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

U.S. jobless claims fall to lowest level since Sept. - Wednesday, November 24, 2004 2:41:42 PM afxpress.com WASHINGTON (AFX) - Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell unexpectedly to 323,000 last week, down 12,000 from a week earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday It's the lowest level since the week ended Sept. 4. The size of the decline was unexpected. Economists were expecting only a slight decrease in initial claims, by 1,000 to 333,000 in the week ended Nov. 20, according to a survey conducted by CBS MarketWatch. The four-week moving average of new claims, which smoothes out distortions caused by one-time events such as weather, fell 6,750 to 332,000 The Labor Department says the four-week average provides a more accurate snapshot of the labor market's strengths and weaknesses This is the lowest level of the four-week moving average since the week ended Nov. 18, 2000 Meanwhile, the number of former workers receiving state unemployment checks fell by 29,000 to 2.76 million in the week ending Nov. 13. This is the lowest level of continuing claims since the week ended May 5, 2001 The four-week average of continued claims dipped to a three year low of 2.79 million The insured unemployment rate, representing the percentage of eligible workers who are receiving benefits, remained at 2.2 percent. This story was supplied by CBSMarketWatch. For further information see www.cbsmarketwatch.com