Sean La Rue's Weekly Newsletter: Quantitative Easing Wants To Be Friends (3 mins)

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Canadian Flyer Revised.pdf (193 KB)

Hello Friends!

Do you want to wait to buy real estate wait because the $8000 tax credit has gone away?  Take a look at these numbers to help you decide

A response I heard recently was that when the tax credit was available rates were 1% higher…

5.25% x 250,000= $13,125 interest

4.25% x 250,000= $10,625 interest

$2,500 difference  

In three years you save $7,500 based on current rates.  This is interest savings only.

Also I have attached a Canadian Financing Flyer.  Check it out for more information and call me if you have any questions.  Thanks.

Make It A Great Day,

Sean K. La Rue

“Your KEY to Moving Home!”
760-835-5663

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Provided to you Exclusively by Sean K. La Rue “Your KEY to Moving Home”     For the week of Oct 18, 2010 | Vol. 8, Issue 42

Sean K. La Rue Senior Vice President Franklin Loan Center Office: 760-837-1488 Cell: 760-835-5663 Fax: 800-784-9089 E-Mail: slarue@franklinlc.com Website: www.SeanLaRue.com

In This Issue Last Week in Review: Quantitative Easing is heading our way, but when, why, what will it mean? Many questions remain... Forecast for the Week: What kind of outlook will the economic reports of the week create? View: 5 Facebook posts that put you at risk! Do you know what they are?

Last Week in Review "EVERYTHING’S COMING OUR WAY..." Those words from Carlos Santana’s song come to mind following last week’s release of the Fed’s September Meeting Minutes, as well as a speech from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. The message was pretty clear - another round of Quantitative Easing (QE2) is coming our way! Remember that QE is the concept of the Fed becoming a buyer of Treasuries and Bonds, in a bid to keep interest rates low and therefore stimulate the economy. And while all the talk had Bonds behaving in a volatile fashion - ultimately causing home loan rates to worsen for the week overall - what was said specifically... and what does it mean? First, let’s take a look at a few notes from the Fed Meeting Minutes: "Although participants considered it unlikely that the economy would re-enter a recession, many expressed concern that output growth, and the associated progress in reducing the level of unemployment, could be slow for some time." Stating that "many" Fed members expressed concern likely means that more voting Fed members are onboard with the concept of more QE. Then there was this comment, which didn’t require much reading between the lines: "Many participants noted that if economic growth remained too slow to make satisfactory progress toward reducing the unemployment rate, or if inflation continued to come in below levels consistent with the FOMC's dual mandate, it would be appropriate to provide additional monetary policy accommodation." This is clearly telling the markets that the Fed will be stepping in with the money printing presses if the economy doesn't pick up. And with just a few weeks remaining before the next Fed Meeting, and recent economic reports being weak at best... rest assured, more QE is coming. And this was underscored as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke delivered a highly anticipated speech on Friday, also making a strong case in support of more Quantitative Easing. He stated "there would appear - all else being equal - to be a case for further action" and additionally, that the "FOMC is prepared to provide additional accommodation if needed to support the economic recovery and to return inflation over time to levels consistent with our mandate." OK - so it seems clear - more QE is coming. But is this a good thing? In Bernanke’s comments on Friday, he noted that the Fed has much less experience in judging the economic effects of more QE versus their more traditional monetary policy actions - and said that this "makes it challenging to determine the appropriate quantity and pace of purchases and to communicate this policy response to the public." True - this amount of money-printing is unprecedented... and begs the question of if more QE really makes sense. The idea is to strengthen the economy by helping make interest rates lower... but the questions remain - will it work, and what consequences may result? ----------------------- QE2 is Coming, But Questions of Its Effectiveness Still Remain Interestingly enough - one result that is likely is that the US Dollar would weaken... and is already weakening following all the talk of QE. And remember, a weaker Dollar helps make our exports more attractive to foreign buyers, due to the weakened US currency making our products less expensive to purchase by foreigners. And while the government will never say it - as the US has been accusing China of very similar tactics - this Dollar devaluation may be exactly what the government has in mind. Think about it... the "cover story" is all on how QE will help interest rates improve - but realistically, are slightly lower rates even what is truly needed to boost consumer demand and create jobs? Rates are pretty low as they stand right now...so why do more QE? Hmm... might just be to devalue the Dollar, and boost our economy through making our exports relatively cheaper for foreign buyers. And this is not a bad thing - but we have to be aware that while QE2 might provide an initial decline for interest rates - the devaluation of the Dollar will ultimately drive rates higher. This story is far from over - so stay tuned as it continues to unfold in the coming weeks, I will be keeping you informed. THE IMPACT OF QE2 ISN’T THE ONLY THING ON THE MINDS OF CONSUMERS THESE DAYS. A NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE QUESTIONING THE RISKS OF SHARING INFORMATION ON SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES LIKE FACEBOOK – AND FOR GOOD REASON. CHECK OUT THE MORTGAGE MARKET GUIDE VIEW BELOW FOR INFORMATION ABOUT 5 POSTS THAT COULD PUT YOU AT RISK!

Forecast for the Week This week’s economic calendar brings us new insight into the health of the manufacturing and housing sectors of the economy. We’ll start off with reports on Capacity Utilization and Industrial Production on Monday. The capacity utilization rate provides an estimate of how much factory capacity is in use. If the utilization rate climbs too high it can lead to inflationary bottlenecks in production. The Federal Reserve watches this report closely and decides how to set interest rates on the basis of whether production constraints are threatening to cause inflation. Tuesday brings us more housing news with the latest reports on Housing Starts and Building Permits for September. That news will be followed by the release of the Fed’s Beige Book on Wednesday. The Beige Book - which is officially known as the Survey on Current Economic Conditions - contains anecdotal information on the current economic and business conditions. Thursday we’ll see another round of Initial Jobless Claims. In last week’s report, Initial Jobless Claims rose to 462,000, which was above the 450,000 that was expected. That was a disappointment, as it seems that the economy is unable to string together a couple of solid weeks with Jobless Claims below 450,000. Finally, the week wraps up on Friday with the Philadelphia Fed Index, which is one of the most important regional manufacturing indices. Remember: Weak economic news normally causes money to flow out of Stocks and into Bonds, helping Bonds and home loan rates improve, while strong economic news normally has the opposite result. As you can see from the chart below, Mortgage Bonds experienced volatility last week, due in large part to the ongoing comments about Quantitative Easing. ----------------------- Chart: Fannie Mae 3.5% Mortgage Bond (Friday, October 15, 2010)

The Mortgage Market Guide View... 5 Facebook Posts That Put You at Risk Be sure you're not sharing too much information with friends, family and others online. By Cameron Huddleston, Kiplinger.com There was a big outcry recently when it was revealed that personal data of Facebook users had been posted to a database open to everyone. (See Congress to Crack Down on Facebook.) Facebook users, naturally, were concerned about their privacy. Yet, every day Facebook and other social network users publish personal information that could put them at risk without thinking twice. "An awful lot of people think when they get online and communicate with their friends that they are invincible," says Adam Levin, chairman of Identity Theft 911. A seemingly benign post or piece of information could make you a target of identity thieves and traditional crooks. To protect yourself, here are five things you should avoid posting online. 1. Date of birth. Almost 60% of social networkers post their date of birth, according to a survey by Identity Theft 911. After all, most of us like to be wished a happy birthday. But resist the urge to post your complete birth date -- including the year -- on your Facebook profile just to get a lot of messages on your big day. This is valuable information for identity thieves. I know you're thinking only your friends see what you post. But if someone does a search for your name, that person will see your birth date if it's listed in your profile. 2. Child's date of birth. When you post "Happy Birthday to my sweet Susie, who turns 5 today," you're giving identity thieves valuable information about your child. When it comes to your kids, resist the urge to post any information about them (see Protect Your Kids From ID Theft). 3. Travel plans. Surely you've seen Facebook posts like this: "We're going to the beach next week. Can't wait." In fact, you may be guilty of it yourself -- 18% of social network users post travel times, according to the Identity Theft 911 survey. Guess what? You've just extended an invitation for people to burglarize your home. Three men in New Hampshire burglarized more than 18 homes by checking Facebook status updates to see when people wouldn't be home (see Burglars Said to Have Picked Houses Based on Facebook Updates). 4. Address. If your address is on your profile AND you let people know when you're going out of town, well, you know where I'm going with this. Nonetheless, 21% of social network users post their address, according to the Identity Theft 911 Survey. 5. Mother's maiden name. It may seem like common sense not to post your mother's maiden name on a social networking site, but about 11% of the people who responded to the Identity Theft 911 survey said they did. Identity thieves will hit the jackpot if you reveal this bit of information online. Not only should you avoid posting any of this information, but also you should fix your Facebook settings to control who sees what on your page. Use different passwords for social media sites than you use for financial sites, such as your bank or credit card site. Be careful about clicking on links on Facebook or similar sites because they could contain viruses that will secretly track your passwords, account numbers and other things. Reprinted with permission. All Contents ©2010 The Kiplinger Washington Editors. www.kiplinger.com. -------------------------- Economic Calendar for the Week of October 18-22, 2010 Remember, as a general rule, weaker than expected economic data is good for rates, while positive data causes rates to rise. Economic Calendar for the Week of October 18 - October 22 Date ET Economic Report For Estimate Actual Prior Impact Mon. October 18 09:15 Industrial Production Sept 0.3%   0.2% Moderate Mon. October 18

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Beautiful flowers for a beautiful day. Hope it's a good one for you.

Sean La Rue
760-835-5663
www.SeanLaRue.com

Posted via email from Sean La Rue's Posterous

Good morning! Its gunna be a great day!

Sean La Rue
760-835-5663
www.SeanLaRue.com

Posted via email from Sean La Rue's Posterous

Journey - Don't Stop Believing (Live)

Just wanted to let you know. Don't stop believing in me and I won't stop believing in you.

I love what this song means to me. It reminds me that love exists. What do you think? What do you want to believe in? Check out this video on YouTube:

Sean La Rue
760-835-5663
www.SeanLaRue.com

Posted via email from Sean La Rue's Posterous

Sean La Rue's Weekly Newsletter: Is the Labor Market Showing Signs of Life... or Not?

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If you have received this newsletter indirectly and would like to be added to our weekly distribution list, use this link

Provided to you Exclusively by Sean K. La Rue “Your KEY to Moving Home”     For the week of Oct 11, 2010 | Vol. 8, Issue 41

Sean K. La Rue Senior Vice President Franklin Loan Center Office: 760-837-1488 Cell: 760-835-5663 Fax: 800-784-9089 E-Mail: slarue@franklinlc.com Website: www.SeanLaRue.com

In This Issue Last Week in Review: The highly anticipated Jobs Report for September is in. What was the news... and what does it mean for home loan rates? Forecast for the Week: With the Meeting Minutes from the Fed’s last get together coming - as well as Retail Sales numbers, two inflation reports, and more Third Quarter earnings season ahead, a busy news week is in store! View: Texting while driving has become a hot issue... but it doesn’t have to worry you anymore. Find out why below.

Last Week in Review "EVERYBODY’S WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND...." (Loverboy, 1981) Or... are they? Unfortunately, many folks out there these days sure wish they were working at all... and the Labor Department reported last Friday that the US lost 95,000 jobs in September. What else did the Jobs Report say and what could the news mean for home loan rates? Read on for details. A closer look at the Jobs Report for September shows that 159,000 of the jobs lost were government workers, many of which are the unwinding of the temporary census hires. The more important private sector added 64,000 jobs - but still not great, and also below the 74,000 expected. But this number confirms the thought that the economy, or the Job market, is stabilizing and perhaps even improving, albeit it at a very gradual pace. More on why this is so important in a minute. The Jobs Report also showed that the Unemployment Rate remained at 9.6%, just below the 9.7% anticipated. However, it’s likely the actual rate of unemployment is higher. Why? Because if an unemployed individual does not seek employment for four weeks, they are removed from the count of the "officially unemployed." And with unemployment benefits available for about 2 years, it increases an unemployed individual's chances of becoming less motivated to look for a job, until the benefits are close to running out. This can skew the headline Unemployment Rate, and is evidenced by the sharp rise in the overall unemployment rate or "U6" measurement of unemployment, which stands at 17.1%. The U6 rate accounts for these discouraged workers who have not sought employment for the past four weeks, as well as those who have accepted part-time employment but would prefer to be working full-time. Now, back to the question of why signs of good - or bad - economic news are particularly important of late. The Fed will be watching the various economic reports very closely over the next few weeks in advance of their next regularly scheduled meeting on November 2-3, as they are considering a second round of Quantitative Easing (QE2) to ensure that our slowing economy does not slow even further. If the economic reports that are ahead are more negative than positive, this will increase the likelihood of more QE... but it’s not a foregone conclusion at this point in the least. So what does all this have to do with home loan rates? If the economic news continues to be soft and the Fed does go through with another round of QE, Bond prices and home loan rates may initially improve for two reasons. First, if the economic data is weak leading up to an announcement - that soft economic news tends to be bad for Stocks, but good for Bonds and therefore home loan rates. Additionally, Bonds would improve simply because the announcement of QE would include large Bond purchases. But keep in mind that the key word is "initially." Even though Bonds and home loan rates could initially improve, the eventual softening of the Dollar, rising commodity prices, and rise in Stock prices would become a drag on Bonds, which would negatively impact home loan rates. We’ll see what happens in the coming weeks leading up to the Fed’s next meeting on November 2-3. But last week, meanwhile, the news had a positive impact on Bonds and home loan rates, as they ended the week about .125 to .25 percent better than where they began. If you or anyone you know would like to learn more about taking advantage of historically low home loan rates, please don’t hesitate to call or email me as soon as possible. Or forward this newsletter on to anyone you think may benefit and I’d be happy to talk to them free of charge. FINDING IT HARD NOT TO TEXT AND DRIVE? YOU CAN DO IT SAFELY…THANKS TO THIS GREAT NEW APP. CHECK OUT THE MORTGAGE MARKET GUIDE VIEW FOR DETAILS.

Forecast for the Week It may be a short week in the Bond Market, with the market closed Monday for the Columbus Day holiday (the Stock Market will be opened), but there will still be plenty of news to work through. On Tuesday, we’ll get a look at the Minutes from the Fed’s September 21st Meeting, and these may give us even more information about which way the Fed is leaning in the QE department. A double dose of inflation news ends the week, with the Producer Price Index on Thursday (which measures inflation at the wholesale level) and the Consumer Price Index on Friday. Remember, inflation is the archenemy of Bonds and home loan rates, so any hint that inflation is increasing could cause home loan rates to worsen. Two other reports to note include Thursday’s Initial and Continuing Jobless Claims (last week’s report, while not great, was slightly better than expected) and Friday’s Retail Sales Report. In addition, third quarter earnings season kicks into full gear this week. Some reports to look for include JP Morgan Chase and General Electric, reporting respectively Wednesday and Friday before the markets open. Remember: Weak economic news normally causes money to flow out of Stocks and into Bonds, helping Bonds and home loan rates improve, while strong economic news normally has the opposite result. As you can see in the chart below, Bonds and home loan rates hit record levels as the talk of QE2 continued. I’ll be listening closely for the latest developments on that front this week. ----------------------- Chart: Fannie Mae 3.5% Mortgage Bond (Friday, October 8, 2010)

The Mortgage Market Guide View... Safer Driving... There’s an App for That! A recent study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that distracted driving was the leading cause in 448,000 accidents and 5,474 highway deaths in 2009. That represents a 16% increase from 2008. That increase is one reason why U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood has proposed mandatory warnings in automobiles about distracted driving. Lahood, like many parents today, is concerned about the growing increase of technology use in automobiles - including distractions that are being added to new cars that allow "drivers to update Facebook, surf the Web or do any number of other things instead of driving safely," Lahood said. Even without such built-in technology, drivers today are often distracted by incoming text messages on their cell phones. The good news is that technology can also help solve this problem. New services - like DriveSafe.ly - have sprung up that eliminate the need to read text messages AND eliminate the need to respond. Here’s how it works... You download an application to your phone. Then, when you get in your car to drive, you simply turn the application on. When you receive a text message, the application actually reads it to you... automatically... and out loud. So there’s no need to take your eyes off the road. Better still... the application automatically sends a reply message stating that you are driving and will respond as soon as you reach a destination that allows you to safely reply. The application can be used on a variety of phones and there are even different plans - including a free version of DriveSafe.ly as well as family and business plans. If you receive a lot of text messages while driving or if you have a teenager of driving age, this could be one of the most important safety steps you do this year. Take a few minutes to check it out. After all, this simple application could save your life or the life of someone you know. -------------------------- Economic Calendar for the Week of October 11-15, 2010 Remember, as a general rule, weaker than expected economic data is good for rates, while positive data causes rates to rise. Economic Calendar for the Week of October 11 - October 15 Date ET Economic Report For Estimate Actual Prior Impact Tue. October 12 02:00 FOMC Minutes 9/21       HIGH Thu. October 14 08:30 Jobless Claims (Initial) 10/9 449K   445K Moderate Thu. October 14 08:30 Producer Price Index (PPI) Sept 0.2%   0.4% Moderate Thu. October 14 08:30 Core Producer Price Index (PPI) Sept 0.1%   0.1% Moderate Thu. October 14 08:30 Balance of Trade Aug -$44.5B

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New Sean La Rue Home Loan Commercial

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IMG_1535.MOV (2016 KB)

Sean La Rue
760-835-5663
www.SeanLaRue.com

Posted via email from Sean La Rue's Posterous

A message from Lady Gaga to the Senate Sept 16 2010

You've got to watch this all the way through.

Sean La Rue
760-835-5663
www.SeanLaRue.com

Posted via email from Sean La Rue's Posterous