Money Matters Newsletter

BLOOMBERG NEWS:
The Obama administration announced Monday that borrowers with little or no equity in their homes will have another year to take advantage of a refinancing program that so far has made little progress.
The Home Affordable Refinance Program was set to expire in June, but so far it has reached fewer than 200,000 of the up to 5 million borrowers federal regulators hoped it would help.
Market conditions have not changed significantly since the program was launched last year, Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said in a statement. So to give lenders more time to implement the plan and to "support and promote market stability," the initiative will be extended to June 2011, he said.
The program is aimed at the millions of borrowers whose home values have been diminished by a weak housing market, or who owe more than their houses are worth, making it impossible for them to take advantage of historically low mortgage rates. Originally, the program targeted borrowers whose loan balances were slightly higher than their property values. The program was later expanded to include those who owe up to 25 percent more than their homes are worth.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Democratic Senators Monday unveiled a $150 billion bill that pushes back the deadline to file for unemployment insurance until year-end and extends dozens of expiring corporate and personal tax credits.

The wide-ranging legislation, which could be voted on as soon as this week, would allow the jobless to apply for extended federal unemployment benefits and the COBRA health insurance subsidy through Dec. 31. It would also make the prevision retroactive to March 1, so the unemployed would not miss any payments.
Marc’s Notes:
As I said, more housing bailouts, more extensions. The next one to come is a reduction in mortgage balances. The free money from Washington never stops.

Here’s one for you. A friend of mine got the $8,000.00 house credit in a check after she bought a house, but actually got $8,131.00.

Marc's Notes:

The markets continue to make lower highs and lower lows. Consumer confidence fell this week, a gauge of how you and I feel about things. I have always said the recovery is bogus, brought on only by FED money, which is borrowed and therefore is not a real demand base. How can one think borrowed money makes things better? It does not.
Investors are beginning to smell a rat and a big pack of lies. Joe Sixpack can be so dense sometimes. I suspect the markets will continue the deterioration and test 10,000 DOW again, hammering on it like our bowling ball on a windshield analogy and crack through for good on a 3rd or 4th test. Then into the 9000’s we go.

The Dream Portofolio is now updated as of today and available now. You can get it for a simple $29.00 or just pay a bit more at $99.00 and use the site with all the shows and updates for a full year. The Super Dividend Payers List was updated about 3 weeks ago.

Marc's Notes:

BLOOMBERG STORY: Federal Reserve Hikes Interest Rates .25 %

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-raises-discount-rate-to-075-from-05-2010-02-18?dist=news

What a surprise. The FEDS jack the overnight rate .25 %. I thought this would be long in coming, but the .25 % is no surprise as far as how much. The question now becomes WHY DID THEY DO IT?
There are only 2 reasons why they would do this so SOON in the recovery (which it aint), and that is CHINA is no longer buying our debt (treasury sales) meaning the US dollar is losing steam AND inflation is appearing more then would like. It is an interesting move. It really is all fluff and little substance. Its more like a foot stamp by an angry elephant. The economy cant take any rate increases of substance and I said you might see a quarter of a point, but I doubt you will see much more. They want to see if their "threat" and minor jolt will calm the US dollar and the CHINESE. It is also testing the waters to see what happens. Its an interesting move but one that leads me to believe they see something and don't like what they see. Otherwise they would not chance putting out the glowing embers of the dinky recovery and risk blowing up the housing market relative calm. I think the markets will digest this move with the help of the FED. They are at the ready and you can be sure an ARMY of traders with DEEP POCKETS are standing ready to do whatever is necessary to make sure the markets response to this is kept under control.

Money Matters Airs Tomorrow  Thursday February 18, 2010 at Noon. PST

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“Should You Stop Paying Your Home Mortgage”.

A topic I am asked on a lot. My answers will surprise you.
Tune in

Marc

Marc's Notes:
The markets temporarily stopped their convulsing and settled down to bouncing around 10,000 DOW and investors breathed a sigh of relief. While the Wall Street cheerleaders spin “all is well’ in Tinsel Town, market students and technicians know otherwise. In a nutshell, market fundamentals are horrible and economic fundamentals are worse.
Unemployment ticked down only thru manipulated figures and consumer confidence is again waning as Joe Sixpack still doesn’t have a job and is beginning to figure out what he is being told by Washington doesn’t seem to ring quite true on HIS block.
What we are seeing and what I have been saying all along is the only “improvement” we are seeing is coming from Government spending, but that is borrowed money.
That’s like charging your bills to pay them. That doesn’t work. You and I and any 12 year old know that. But what is really happening here is Obama and the rest are kicking the can down the road trying to stave off the inevitable. They borrow more and more and bail out everyone under the sun, all while feeding trillions to the banking cartel while you and I get stuck with the bill. Foreign investors incredibly still buy our IOU’s but that is slowing and WILL CONTINUE TO SLOW until the FEDS will have to buy their own debt (called MONETIZING- Listen to Money Matters Show #3).

BLOOMBERG:
As Greece tries to control a record deficit and stem a slide in its bonds, Trichet said the economy of the 16-nation euro area is solid and its budget shortfall will probably be smaller than those of the U.S. and Japan this year. The comments yesterday didn’t stop Spanish and Portuguese stocks from dropping on concern they are in a similar predicament to Greece, or the euro from tumbling to a nine-month low against the dollar.

Marc’s Notes:

Marc's Notes:

First of all, let me thank all of you for pledging to KVMR in these times of economic stress. Not only for the station but for me AND YOU as I know the thank you gifts like the newsletter, the consults and the website will help protect YOU and our community from Wall Street stealing our money and going out to eat with our money in New York, or buying mansions in the Hamptons.
We have to keep our money HERE in Nevada County to help Nevada Countians, not pad the pocketbooks of Wall Street crooks.
That being said lets cover the markets.
Dow 10,750 was close enough. Technicians who follow the Dow, called Elliot Wave Theorists tell us 10,500 was the turn point to look for. I mentioned that markets usually never do what they are expected to and IF the Dow got to 10,000 (I thought it would turn in the 9000’s), then my expected turn points would either be 10,250 or 10,750. (See late 2009 updates).