OTCPicks Market Blog

September 17, 2008

In recent weeks mortgage rates have been dropping. This is great news for buyers, but only buyers with impeccable credit. Within the last week mortgage rates have dropped below 6% making it a great time to consider buying a house. But, the “Devil is in the Details” and the Devil in this case is finding a lender willing to loan you the money to buy.

Lenders do not want to take risk anymore. Taking excessive risk on sub-prime loans is what started this mess in the first place, so the pendulum is now swinging the other way where lenders have become very conservative and are requiring ever higher credit scores, larger loan down payments, and more stringent income verification checks.

September 15, 2008

Sunday, September 14th is already being called Black Sunday for Wall Street as troubled financial giants Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and AIG were all desperately seeking lifelines for survival as frenzied behind-close-doors meetings happened around the clock. And today might well become Black Monday if the cloud of the current financial crisis does not lift.

U.S. financial stocks and markets are getting battered unmercifully today as worried investors react to the uncertainty and instability of the U.S. financial system happenings.