Brentwood TN Real Estate and Homes

This week, we’ll see a number of reports that have the potential to move the markets. We’ll start off with a dose of manufacturing news right away Monday morning with the Empire State Index, which looks at New York State’s manufacturing sector, including how busy it is and where things are headed. On Thursday, we’ll also see the Philadelphia Fed Index, which is one of the most important regional manufacturing indices. These two reports will provide an early look at the manufacturing sector for the month of August.

Things kick into full swing on Tuesday with a number of important reports, including the Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures inflation at the wholesale level. Remember, inflation is the archenemy of Bonds and home loan rates, so it will be important to see what this report reveals. The PPI report comes just after the Consumer Price Index was released last week showing the highest headline reading in a year, so the markets will definitely be paying attention to this report. We’ll also see reports on Industrial Production and on Capacity Utilization, which is considered a telling inflation indicator.

Tuesday also brings another dose of news on the health of the housing industry with reports on the number of Housing Starts and Building Permits in July. Housing Starts for June came in below expectations and at the lowest level in 8 months. And even though Building Permits showed an uptick, it was primarily in the multi-family area rather than in the more important and widely watched single-family area, which showed the lowest permits since April 2009. I’ll be watching to see if those numbers improve for July.

Finally, the week of reports caps off on Thursday with the weekly Initial Jobless Claims report. As discussed above, last week’s report was disappointing to say the least.

In addition to those reports, the Treasury Department and White House will be hosting a "Conference on the Future of Housing Finance" next Tuesday where the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be discussed. You may recall a couple weeks ago, rumors were swirling of a major bailout to help millions of homeowners who are upside down on their mortgages - and some pointed to this conference as the venue to release such a big announcement. So I’ll be keeping a close eye on this conference and how it impacts homeowners.

Remember: Weak economic news normally causes money to flow out of Stocks and into Bonds, helping Bonds and home loan rates improve, while strong economic news normally has the opposite result. As you can see from the chart below, Mortgage Bonds have continued to climb a staircase higher. Overall, Bonds and home loan rates ended last week where they began - which is at historically good levels.

If you or someone you know has been thinking about purchasing or refinancing a home, now is an ideal time. Even if you’re not sure what you want to do, a brief conversation can provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision.

Chart: Fannie Mae 4.0% Mortgage Bond (Friday, August 13, 2010)

5 Financial Lessons for College Students:

Follow These Tips So Your Kids will Score Well When it Comes to Managing Money While Away at School.

By Janet Bodnar, Kiplinger.com

Forget tuition. Once that bill is taken care of, the biggest financial challenge you face when sending kids off to college is making sure they don’t overdraw their checking account or run up a credit-card bill they can’t pay off. Here’s how to help boost their financial GPA (and save big bucks on fees).

Open a low-cost checking account in your child’s college town, especially if his current bank doesn’t have branches there. Pay close attention to the bank pitches you’ve been getting in the mail so that you can spot the best combination of low balance requirements and low (or no) fees. With a host of new regulations squeezing bank revenues, totally free checking will be harder to come by and may come with strings attached, such as a minimum number of required debit-card transactions. For help in searching for an account, go to www.checkingfinder.com. Extra credit: Choose a bank with a network of ATMs that’s convenient to your child’s dorm or favorite hangouts. College kids are notorious for running up ATM fees by going to the closest machine, even if it’s not in their bank’s network.

Set up an overdraft strategy. Students are also prime candidates for racking up charges by overdrawing their accounts with small purchases at the drugstore or coffee shop. As a result, they’re particularly affected by new rules that prohibit banks from automatically enrolling customers in pricey overdraft-protection programs. Now you have to actively select such a program or choose a less-expensive option, such as linking your child’s checking account to a savings account - or letting him suffer the embarrassment of having his purchase declined (see Closing the Door on Overdrafts). Extra credit: Have your child sign up to get balance alerts via e-mail or text when his balance is low.

Downplay credit cards. New rules require that young people under 21 have a co-signer when they apply for a credit card. Don’t be too quick to sign, or even to make your child an authorized user on your card (see Debit vs. Credit Cards for Kids). Your student should first be responsible enough to manage a checking account. If he doesn’t overdraw his account, he may be mature enough to handle a credit card. But don’t rush it. Extra credit: Regardless of whether your child uses a debit or credit card, he shouldn’t get in the habit of picking up the check for group pizza or beer and expecting to collect from everyone else. That’s another big money pit for college students; even with the best of intentions, their buddies will never pay up.

Guard personal information. This is the Facebook generation, who will tell the world "everything but their underwear size," as a friend of mine puts it. Better they should reveal the size of their skivvies than disclose their PIN or credit-card number, even to a friend (see How to Fix Your Facebook Settings). Extra credit: Remind your kids that when they’re shopping online, they should look for secure transaction symbols, such as a lock in the lower right corner of the browser window and a Web address that begins with "https." See 5 Tips for Safe Online Shopping for more advice.

Keep track of expenses at least for the first semester. Student services should be able to estimate how much the average student will shell out for entertainment, travel, food outside the dorm and other miscellaneous expenses. But your kid may not be average. He can monitor his own transactions via online banking. PNC offers a Virtual Wallet budgeting site for students (www.pnc.com). Or you can just buy your kid some bright green Post-its on which to jot down what he spends. Even if he doesn’t tally them, they provide a visual cue that his spending is mounting up. Extra credit: Before your child leaves home, make it clear which expenses you’ll cover and which are his responsibility. Hint: He gets to pay $300 for a football season ticket.

Reprinted with permission. All Contents © 2010 The Kiplinger Washington Editors. www.kiplinger.com

Economic Calendar for the Week of August 16-20, 2010

Remember, as a general rule, weaker than expected economic data is good for rates, while positive data causes rates to rise.

Economic Calendar for the Week of August 16 - August 20