FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD GIVES-RISING MORTGAGE FORECLOSURES TAKE AWAY

In a move that many did not see coming, the Federal Reserve cut the Fed Funds rate (the interest rate that member bans charge each other for overnight loans) by 50 basis points, from 5.25% to 4.75%. Most Fed watchers expected a .25% drop, with a .5% pairing possible.

Said CNNMoney.com:

Stocks surged following the announcement, with the Dow finishing the day up more than 330 points, or 2.5 percent. The Nasdaq shot up 2.7 percent while the S&P 500 closed nearly 3 percent higher. Bonds fell, sending the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury up to 4.5 percent. (Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.)

Most Fed watcher agree that more cuts will follow.

MORE MORTGAGORS HIT THE BRICKS

At the same time, MSNBC reports in “U.S. home foreclosures soared in August-New data suggest homeowners can’t make mortgage payments” that:

LOS ANGELES - The number of foreclosure filings reported in the U.S. last month more than doubled versus August 2006 and jumped 36 percent from July, a trend that signals many homeowners are increasingly unable to make timely payments on their mortgages or sell their homes amid a national housing slump.

A total of 243,947 foreclosure filings were reported in August, up 115 percent from 113,300 in the same month a year ago, Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. said Tuesday.

There were 179,599 foreclosure filings reported in July.

EVERY MESSAGE IS A MIXED MESSAGE IN THE DESERT OF THE REAL!