VMBS

Mortgage applications have slowed as the average interest rate for 30-year mortgages has gone back above 7%. Loan requests declined 2.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis as of June 28 from a week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with loan balances below $766,550 or less rose to 7.03% from 6.93%. The same interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 6.56% from 6.46%. "Mortgage rates moved higher last week, crossing the 7 percent mark, even as the latest inflation data has kept market expectations alive for a rate cut from the Fed later this y

The recent spike in national mortgage rates stirred concerns among homebuyers and economists alike. With the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) climbing to 6.88% on April 11, questions arise about the trajectory of the housing market. Chart Source: Freddie Mac Additionally, other key indicators such as the 15-year fixed mortgage rate, which rose to 6.16%, signaled a broader trend of rate hikes. Also Read: Are You A Housing Market Lock-In? High Mortgage Rates Result In ‘People Not Living In Homes They Would Prefer’ Stubborn Inflation And The Fed To Blame Per Freddie Mac, mortgage rates have gradually increased through the year, due to persistent inflation and the reassessmen

Interest rates are on everyone’s radar, but what’s the game plan amid the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold steady for now? Benzinga interviewed Greg McBride, CFA, Senior Vice President of Bankrate, for his exclusive insights on the current state of the economy and his expectations with the future. Related: Federal Reserve Pushes Stocks To Record Highs As Rate Cuts Loom, Nvidia Rallies, Apple Faces Legal Woes: This Week In The Markets Interest Rates May Take The Stairs Coming Down McBride offered some very actionable insights. In response to a question about the Fed keeping interest rates unchanged this time, McBride said, “Interest rates took the elevator going up, but they're

Investors have accumulated record amounts of cash and equivalent assets as a way to hedge against the volatility of recent times. Now, fund managers are urging investors to put that money to work, as decreasing inflation and the potential for an economic slowdown may lead to profitable opportunities in the bond markets. According to ICI Global, capital invested into money market fund assets reached a record of $5.73 trillion last week. Money market funds are characterized by having very low volatility and very high liquidity, holding large amounts of cash and other low-risk securities in their portfolios. Investors tend to lean towards money market investing in times of uncertainty,

Congressman Kurt Schrader of Oregon was last covered by Benzinga for his trades on Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) and SLB (NYSE:SLB), which were made on Oct. 13 and Oct. 26, respectively. Since those trades were made, Ameren has shown returns of roughly 15.6%, while SLB is down roughly 9.7%. Furthermore, SLB has been declining ever since it hit its 52-week high of $56.04 per share, which would have resulted in positive returns of 7.8% if actualized. Schrader, a Democrat, has made over 450 trades in the past three years. His most trade was Nuveen ESG Large-Cap ETF (BATS:NULC), which he recently sold between $15,000 to $50,000 in shares on Nov. 8, per Capitol Trades. See Also: This Congressm