Scott Kinne First Heritage Mortgage

Scott Kinne's Mortgage information Blog

  • About Scott
  • Testimonials
  • Resources
    • First Time Home Buyer Tips
    • First Time Home Seller Tips
    • Closing Costs
    • Home Appraisal
    • Home Inspection
    • Affordable Credit Repair
    • Interest Rates
    • Loan Programs
    • Loan Process
    • Loan Checklist
    • Mortgage Glossary
    • Mortgage FAQ
  • Main Website
  • Contact
  • Apply

A Rate-Locking Strategy Ahead Of The Fed’s Meeting Today

January 27, 2010 by Scott Kinne

Fed Funds Rate (Jan 2007 - Jan 2010)The Federal Open Market Committee ends a scheduled, 2-day meeting today in Washington. It’s the first of 8 scheduled meetings for the policy-setting group in 2010.

The group adjourns at 2:15 PM ET.

As is customary, upon adjournment, the Fed will issue a press release to the markets recapping its views of the country’s current economic condition, and the outlook for the near-term future.

The post-meeting statements from the Fed are brief but comprehensive. And Wall Street eats them up. Every word, sentence and phrase is carefully disected in the hope of gaining an investment edge over other active traders.

It’s for this reason that mortgage rates tend to be jittery on days the FOMC adjourns. Wall Street is frantically rebalancing its bets.

Today should be no different.

The FOMC is expected to leave the Fed Funds Rate within its target range of 0.000-0.250 percent — the lowest it’s been in history. However, it’s what the Fed says Wednesday that will matter more than what it does.

After the Fed’s last meeting in December, it made several observations:

  1. The jobs market is getting “less worse”
  2. The housing sector is making improvements
  3. Financial markets are stabilizing further

The economy is gradually improving, the Fed told us, but there are still risks to the economy ahead. Furthermore, inflation remains in check.

As compared to December’s press release, today’s FOMC statement will be closely watched. If the Fed changes its verbiage in any way that alludes to strong growth and/or inflation in 2010, expect mortgage rates to rise as Wall Street moves its money from bonds to stocks.

Conversely, reference to slower growth in 2010 should lead rates lower.

We can’t know what the Fed will say so if you’re floating a mortgage rate right now or wondering whether the time is right to lock, the safe approach would be to lock prior to 2:15 PM ET Wednesday. After that, what happens to rates is anyone’s guess.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Scott Kinne

Contact Scott

Vice President, Senior Loan Officer
NMLS ID #182351
Office: 703.293.6146
Mobile: 571.237.6241
Fax: 571.317.2478
skinne@fhmtg.com

Licensed In Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C., West Virginia
  LOAN APPLICATION
  FREE RATE QUOTE

Connect with Me!

Sign Up For My Free Newsletter

Categories

Recent Posts

  • 3 Things That Will Absolutely Kill Your Chances for a Mortgage Approval
  • Mortgage Interest Rate Versus APR: What To Know
  • Navigating A Market With Higher Interest Rate
  • Understanding Mortgage Pre-Approvals and How to Avoid Being Declined for One
Equal Housing Lender
nmlsconsumeraccess.org
First Heritage Mortgage, LLC, Company NMLS ID #86548

Our Location

3201 Jermantown Road
Suite 800
Fairfax, VA 22030
Business: 703-293-6146
Cellphone: 571-237-6241

Copyright © 2023 · Powered by MySMARTblog