The Petalumahomes.com Realty WebLog

By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer 1 hour, 8 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Thursday that the country’s economic outlook has deteriorated and signaled that the central bank is ready to keep on lowering a key interest rate — as needed — to shore things up.

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Fair Isaac recently announced plans to change its credit scoring formula to “ensure the continued reliability and predictive powers of FICO scores.”  The new model, named FICO 08 is expected to make its way into the credit scoring process some time in 2008.  The model replaces the existing FICO model, which has remained relatively unchanged […]

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Just a quick note to everyone who may have noticed a change in the site. 
I’ve added this little feature:

Snap Shots.  In a nutshell, next to every link you’ll now see a little icon resembling a phrase box from a comic strip - hover over that link and viola…a “Snap Shot” of the where the link […]

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I News Brief
1. Nationally, home prices rose 5.9 percent, compared to the fourth quarter of 2005, reported the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), and 1.1 percent from the third quarter of 2006. Year-over-year price increases were the lowest recorded since 1999. House price appreciation is, for now, more in line with […]

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New Tax Laws May Aid Your Investment Strategy
If you’re an investor, you’ll want to pay close attention to some of the provisions of a bill that President Bush signed into law on May 17.
The new legislation extends the lower tax rates on capital gains and stock dividends, temporarily removes restrictions on transfers from traditional to […]

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Financial Tips for New Parents
If you’ve just had a child, you are no doubt excited and happy, though you could probably use a little more sleep. And if you’re like most new parents, you have big dreams for your little one. But if you’re going to help make those dreams come true, you’re going to […]

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I. News Briefs
1. Mortgage Rates Come in Mixed This Week: Freddie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.25 percent up from last week’s 6.23. The 15-year FRM this week was unchanged at 5.98 percent. The Five-year Treasury-indexed […]

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