| Last | Change | Percent | |
| S&P Futures | 1971.6 | -4.5 | -0.23% |
| Eurostoxx Index | 3216.4 | -15.3 | -0.47% |
| Oil (WTI) | 93.21 | 0.3 | 0.31% |
| LIBOR | 0.235 | 0.001 | 0.21% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 84.22 | -0.040 | -0.05% |
| 10 Year Govt Bond Yield | 2.57% | -0.02% | |
| Current Coupon Ginnie Mae TBA | 106.3 | 0.0 | |
| Current Coupon Fannie Mae TBA | 105 | 0.1 | |
| BankRate 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage | 4.24 |
Markets are lower on no real news. Bonds and MBS are up small. Today starts the FOMC meeting.
Inflation at the wholesale level remains under control, with the Producer Price Index coming in flat for the month of August. Ex food and energy, it was up .1% (or 1.8% annualized). Inflation is still below the Fed's target.
Wells Fargo conducted a survey about homebuying attitudes, and there are some major misconceptions out there. 30% believe only individuals with high incomes can obtain a mortgage. 64% believe they must have a "very good" credit score to buy a home. 44% believe a 20% down payment is a requirement. People really do not know about FHA lending.
CALPERS (the California Public Employees Retirement System) - the biggest US pension fund, is redeeming its hedge fund investments. High costs and low transparency are the stated reason, but another reason is underperformance. Average public pension gains from hedge funds were 3.6% over the past 3 years, vs 10.6% in stocks and 5.7% from bonds.
What is holding up the stock market these days? Buybacks. Interesting stat: companies in Q2 spent 31% of their cash flow on buybacks. This is having an outsized effect as volumes dry up. In Q2, stock market volume averaged just over 6 billion shares a day, the lowest level in 7 years.
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