Lowest Interest Rates in Fifty Years !!

Hello Everyone,
Yes we have news that interest rates have fallen to 4 7/8% for a 30 year fixed loan through Prosperity Mortgage as of the 19th of December 2008. How's that for a Christmas present? It gets better- if you pay a few points for a buy-down the rate can go as low as 4 1/8%. I have been saying that I expected the market to enjoy brisk selling and buying starting in the end of January 2009 and that appears to be starting to be a reality. Not that I have a Crystal Ball, in fact who knows if something else comes along to cause the economy to falter again, but indicators are pointing toward a certain direction. One indicator is the majority of market makers in the stock market are more optomistic and positive now than they have been during the past several months. This shared attitude has been allowing the stock market to begin to firm up. There is still plenty of awareness on home mortgages in trouble, and this is a real concern, but there is a reduced media level of reporting on the subject as of late compared with the past several months. As I mentioned before foreclosers were down in Maryland 16% in November 2008, while other troubled areas rose. I was always disappointed with the Media about the housing troubles, I never read what percentage of homes go under foreclosure in a NORMAL housing market. I always read that foreclosures had risen to let's say 6% , instead of reading that 94% of the nations homeowner's WERE making their mortgage payments! I suppose that type of reporting doesn't sell newspapers. Another indicator that is unofficial but seems to make some sense is that although the Big Three automakers have their hands out for loan help, I have been noticing more paper temporary license tags for new cars on the road, opposed to few seen during the past months. Of course you can challange this observation and you would be justified since auto prices have reduced, and deals are abundant, but I did qualify this indicator by saying it was unofficial. When you get out on the road today, see if number of temporary tags increase in numbers over the next few weeks.
The end of year is approaching quickly, if you sold any securities that had a profit since last January that was in a private account (not an IRA,401K,etc.) you might want to consider selling additional securities that have a loss to enable you to offset the profits and keep you from having to pay Capital Gains tax. Always check with your financial advisor for more information.
The future looks brighter! The days are now getting LONGER- Yea! Have a great Holiday Season!