EconomicCrisis.US

Turmoil in the stock market and the European debt crisis are making life easier for American homebuyers and families looking to refinance: Mortgage rates are inching closer to a record low.

The window of opportunity may close soon. Home loan rates will rise if investors grow more confident and shift money out of the safety of government bonds, which influence mortgage rates.

For now, though, rates are tantalizingly low. The average 30-year fixed-rate loan sank to 4.78 percent last week, the lowest this year and barely above the record of 4.71 percent set in December. And 15-year loans are at their lowest rates in two decades.
Read the rest of this entry »

Global economists are warning that the United States needs to explain how it’s going to cap a government spending gusher before American debts contribute to another crisis.

In the last week alone, the IMF , the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Chinese government have urged the Obama administration to outline spending controls.

The Paris-based OECD said Thursday that a hike in U.S. interest rates “should not be delayed beyond the last quarter of 2010.”

“Countries at risk of losing confidence in financial markets also need to strengthen government finances more rapidly,” the report concluded.
Read the rest of this entry »

The US economy grew slightly less than estimated in the first three months of the year as the country struggles to recover from recession, government data showed Thursday.

The Commerce Department said that gross domestic product in the first quarter increased at a 3.0 percent annual pace from the fourth quarter of 2009, lowering its original estimate of 3.2 percent.

The downward revision surprised most analysts, who predicted GDP — a broad measure of the country’s goods and services output — expanded 3.3 percent.
Read the rest of this entry »

Hey, is this a great recovery…or what?

Stocks fell again yesterday. The Dow went down 69 points, closing below 10,000. Gold rose $15…closing above $1,200.

The two are still $8,800 apart. But give them time. They’ve been working their way closer for the last ten years. They’ll get there…

Single family house prices fell for the 6th month in a row, reports The Washington Post.

And get this: “Private pay shrinks to historic lows as government payouts rise,” says USA Today.

This is the big story. As a share of personal income, never before has the private sector contributed so little. Thank god for the government. Without those checks from the feds, we’d all be broke.
Read the rest of this entry »