The past January, many nervous employers kept cutting jobs. The unemployment rate has declined from 5 percent in last December, to 4.9 percent in January.
Employers have grown cautious as they try to adjust to the fall in the housing market. Many employers are cutting back on their spending. They are carefully postponing their capital purchases, slowing down unnecessary new hiring, and shrinking their investment as interest rates fall. This particular business mind-set actually weakened our economies growth. Last month, about 17,000 jobs were lost. Some people quit their jobs for all kinds of reasons. Most people were eliminated from their jobs. The group of people who were hit the worst is the construction workers and factory works. As the housing market is crashing to the ground, factories are shutting down or moving overseas, many Americans suffer the consequences directly.
In order to help the economy recover, the Federal Reserves announced that it will give banks another $60 billion in short-term loans through actions in February. President Bush prodded the Congress to pass an economic rescue package.
Still, fear of recession has grown. If the economy keeps contracting for six months, it is considered to be in a recession. Many analysts strongly believe that the economy will be in a recession in the first half of 2008. Market Watch from Washington, actually indicates that based on today’s government report, our economy has entered a recession.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080201/economy.html
http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Is America ready for a systemic change?
The presidential debate is experiencing its most exciting period. From Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, to John McCain and Mitt Romney, every presidential candidate is giving their best performance for Super Tuesday.
America is ready for a big change. It doesn’t matter if the next president is democratic or republican; America will need to be united as a nation. Fixing the war in Iraq, healthcare, and economy are the three biggest issues the next president faces. So far, by watching the presidential campaign, I have realized that the candidates keep changing their strategy in every debate to show their own credibility.
All the candidates understand the problems that we are facing. However, nobody really states any solutions to how to solve the problems. How are we going to make healthcare universal and affordable for every single American? How can we recover the damage the war has done to the American economy? Changing the tax code and lowering taxes on the middle class is not going to get Americans out of debt.
Statistics shows that most of the middle class has at least $8,000 per person in credit card debt. While the price of the fuel is rising, energy bills are increasing every month and healthcare is becoming unaffordable. Tax cuts really don’t seem to be the solution to get out of the situation. America needs a change. We don’t know what the change will be like, how can the change be carried out, or how intense it can become. Let us wait and see what happens in California on Tuesday.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/31/debate.main/index.html
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/News/Politics/Detail?contentId=5634365&version=5&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.14.1
America is ready for a big change. It doesn’t matter if the next president is democratic or republican; America will need to be united as a nation. Fixing the war in Iraq, healthcare, and economy are the three biggest issues the next president faces. So far, by watching the presidential campaign, I have realized that the candidates keep changing their strategy in every debate to show their own credibility.
All the candidates understand the problems that we are facing. However, nobody really states any solutions to how to solve the problems. How are we going to make healthcare universal and affordable for every single American? How can we recover the damage the war has done to the American economy? Changing the tax code and lowering taxes on the middle class is not going to get Americans out of debt.
Statistics shows that most of the middle class has at least $8,000 per person in credit card debt. While the price of the fuel is rising, energy bills are increasing every month and healthcare is becoming unaffordable. Tax cuts really don’t seem to be the solution to get out of the situation. America needs a change. We don’t know what the change will be like, how can the change be carried out, or how intense it can become. Let us wait and see what happens in California on Tuesday.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/31/debate.main/index.html
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/News/Politics/Detail?contentId=5634365&version=5&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.14.1
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Is this a good time to refinance?
For many home owners, receiving a letter from their mortgage lender is common. Especially now, after the Federal Reserve cut the interest rate by another 50 basis points, refinancing is back on the table for most home owners.
Refinancing is a financial tool for home owners to lower their monthly mortgage payment. Many home owners, who originally had an adjustable rate on their mortgage, are desperate to refinance. These loans are made based on a variable interest rate, which means the mortgage lender can change it within 15 days of notice. Home owners that plan to save money by getting the adjustable rate can’t afford the higher monthly payment when their rate increases.
As it is today, for a 30 year fixed mortgage, the interest rate is 5.47%. Many borrowers are considering refinancing because they predict the interest rate will rise in the future. Taking advantage of the low interest rate now looks like a smart thing to do.
Lenders are tightening up their standards for mortgages. If a mortgage consumes more than 28% of the borrower’s gross income, it is less likely that the lender will approve the mortgage. Borrowers that are qualified to refinance should pay attention to the prepayment penalty. Sometimes, this penalty can be more than 6 months of the interest payments. Experts suggest the use of the break-even point as a time interval. With refinancing, you can save $100 per month with a closing cost of $3000. Your break-even point is 30 months. It is 3000 divided by 100. If you are planning to stay for more than 30 months, it might be a good idea to refinance. If you are planning on moving or selling the house, you might be better off without refinancing.
The bottom line is: this is a good time for the qualified home owners to refinance. However, weather you should refinance or not, you really should talk to the broker about your situation.
http://biz.yahoo.com/brn/080128/24433.html?.v=1&.pf=banking-budgeting
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/mortgages/20070418_refinance_exotic_mortgage_a1.asp?caret=4bhttp://www.bankrate.com/
Refinancing is a financial tool for home owners to lower their monthly mortgage payment. Many home owners, who originally had an adjustable rate on their mortgage, are desperate to refinance. These loans are made based on a variable interest rate, which means the mortgage lender can change it within 15 days of notice. Home owners that plan to save money by getting the adjustable rate can’t afford the higher monthly payment when their rate increases.
As it is today, for a 30 year fixed mortgage, the interest rate is 5.47%. Many borrowers are considering refinancing because they predict the interest rate will rise in the future. Taking advantage of the low interest rate now looks like a smart thing to do.
Lenders are tightening up their standards for mortgages. If a mortgage consumes more than 28% of the borrower’s gross income, it is less likely that the lender will approve the mortgage. Borrowers that are qualified to refinance should pay attention to the prepayment penalty. Sometimes, this penalty can be more than 6 months of the interest payments. Experts suggest the use of the break-even point as a time interval. With refinancing, you can save $100 per month with a closing cost of $3000. Your break-even point is 30 months. It is 3000 divided by 100. If you are planning to stay for more than 30 months, it might be a good idea to refinance. If you are planning on moving or selling the house, you might be better off without refinancing.
The bottom line is: this is a good time for the qualified home owners to refinance. However, weather you should refinance or not, you really should talk to the broker about your situation.
http://biz.yahoo.com/brn/080128/24433.html?.v=1&.pf=banking-budgeting
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/mortgages/20070418_refinance_exotic_mortgage_a1.asp?caret=4bhttp://www.bankrate.com/
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