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Thursday, September 25, 2008
Freddie Mac: Mortgage Rate Follows Treasury Yields Up
Sue Chang
MarketWatch Pulse
SAN FRANCISCO -- Freddie Mac said Thursday the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average rose from the previous week to 6.09% with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Sept. 25. In the previous period, the average was 5.78%, and the year-ago average was 6.42%. "Mortgage rates followed Treasury bond yields higher this week amid market uncertainty over the current state of the economy," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist. "The latest housing information for the third quarter continues to show some softness in prices and sales activity. House prices fell 5.3% over the twelve months ending in July -- weaker than the market consensus -- according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's purchase-only house price index."
Copyright © 2008 MarketWatch, Inc.
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A specialist is a member of a stock exchange who works as an auctioneer for a specific stock and/or stocks. It can be an individual, partnership, corporation or group of firms.
The specialist works to maintain a "fair and orderly market" for respective stocks, matching up buyers and sellers by displaying the best "bid" and "ask" prices at its trading post. If buys are not equal to sells, the specialist evens the scale by buying or selling shares, accordingly. However, they cannot make their own transactions until all investor orders have been placed.
Gauging supply and demand, the specialist sets an opening price for the stocks in its domain. If a price has not been set by the time the market opens, the specialist can delay that particular stock's opening.
Specialists make money off the "spread," which is the difference between bid and ask prices on orders.
