I took a break from the mortgage business yesterday afternoon and attended the new movie, Julie & Julia. The movie is a tale of two stories; Julie Powell's one year adventure of cooking each and every recipe from the classic book, written by Julia Child, then the story from Julia Child's memoirs of how she came to write the book!
Mastering the Are of French Cooking is a tremendous work which was first published in 1961. How Julie Powell managed to do what she did, plus write about it, is in itself an amazing accomplishment! Oh how I would love to be smart enough to come up with an idea such as Julie Powell's, then sit down and write a story which would become so welcomed into the public eye.
If you love to cook, as I do, and want to spend a couple of hours enjoying a break from everyday life, do go see the movie Julie & Julia. You won't be dissappointed!
Now, off to buy the two books...Julie & Julie and Mastering the Art of French Cooking!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Mortgage Bonds Higher
Mortgage Bonds are higher and following through on yesterday's rally - this ahead of today's $37B 3-yar Note auction at 1:00 ET. Traders will be gauging the appetite for this offering, especially by foreign countries.
Helping give bonds a lift was some good news on inflation. The labor Department reported today that worker Productivity in the 2nd quarter rose to 6.4%, higher than the consensus of 5.5% rising at its fastest pace in 6 years as companies cut costs and try to maximize output from their current staff. The efficiency gains help to curb inflation and as all know, low inflation is good for long-term Bonds like Mortgage Bonds. Unit Labor cost fell at a 5.8% pace versus estimates of -2.5%, the second consecutive drop and the biggest since 2001. This is also good news on the inflation front.
Today the 2-day Fed Meeting begins, with the statement to be released at 2:15pm ET tomorrow. We all know the Fed is not about to raise rates tomorrow, but will they hint about a future rate hike and will it be sooner or later? Stocks have been enjoying a rally higher sustained by a lack of investment alternatives. Have you checked available rates in your savings acount lately? They are near zero and can influence many people to place those dollars in the Stock market as they search for higher returns. But should the Fed take away the "punch bowl" and the low rate party comes to an end, Stocks could suffer and Bonds could benefit.
Helping give bonds a lift was some good news on inflation. The labor Department reported today that worker Productivity in the 2nd quarter rose to 6.4%, higher than the consensus of 5.5% rising at its fastest pace in 6 years as companies cut costs and try to maximize output from their current staff. The efficiency gains help to curb inflation and as all know, low inflation is good for long-term Bonds like Mortgage Bonds. Unit Labor cost fell at a 5.8% pace versus estimates of -2.5%, the second consecutive drop and the biggest since 2001. This is also good news on the inflation front.
Today the 2-day Fed Meeting begins, with the statement to be released at 2:15pm ET tomorrow. We all know the Fed is not about to raise rates tomorrow, but will they hint about a future rate hike and will it be sooner or later? Stocks have been enjoying a rally higher sustained by a lack of investment alternatives. Have you checked available rates in your savings acount lately? They are near zero and can influence many people to place those dollars in the Stock market as they search for higher returns. But should the Fed take away the "punch bowl" and the low rate party comes to an end, Stocks could suffer and Bonds could benefit.
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