In Greece, the riots continued as people protested further pay cuts and tax increases to help close

Last Week in Review : Events in Greece and inflation news made for a volatile week, but how did home loan rates fare? Forecast for the Week : A full week of reports is ahead, which will give us news on housing and the state of the economy. Plus, the Fed meets Tuesday sta travel us and Wednesday.
Greece sta travel us is the word. Last week, both renewed problems in Greece and inflation news dominated the headlines and made for some volatile trading. What happened, and what was the impact on home loan rates? Read on for details.
In Greece, the riots continued as people protested further pay cuts and tax increases to help close their unsustainable budget deficit. Then on Friday, Greece announced some reshuffling within their Parliament and it also appears as though the country will receive some sort of bailout to meet near-term financing needs. With 20,000+ people rioting in the streets, the government had to do something to calm the markets, but the Greece sta travel us story is far from over. Shaking up the Parliament won t fix the long-term debt problems, nor is it likely that a short-term bailout, if it happens, will help Greece avoid some sort of debt restructuring, re-profiling or outright default. One impact of the volatility in Greece is that it has caused some flight to safety buying of US Dollar denominated securities like Treasuries and Mortgage Backed Securities, upon which home loan rates are based. This helped Bonds and home loan rates last week, which was a good thing, sta travel us since signs of inflation also heated up last week and Bonds and home loan rates would have likely worsened on that inflation news. Remember, inflation is the arch enemy of Bonds and home loan rates, sta travel us like Kryptonite to Superman, because inflation erodes the value of the fixed return provided by a Bond, which causes home loan rates to rise. And last week, both the Producer Price Index (which measures inflation at the wholesale level) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) were both reported hotter than expected, with the Core CPI rising by 0.3%, which was the largest monthly increase in three years. While the Fed continues to say that the increase in inflation is transitory (i.e. short in duration, temporary or not persistent), more signs of inflation in the coming weeks and months sta travel us could hinder Bonds and home loan rates from further improvements.
The bottom line is that home loan rates still remain near some of the best levels we ve seen this year, and it s important to take advantage of these levels while they remain. If you have been thinking about purchasing or refinancing a home, call or email me to learn more about why now is a great time to benefit from today s historically sta travel us low rates. Or forward this newsletter on to someone you know who may benefit.
Thursday also brings another weekly Initial and Continuing Jobless Claims Report . Last week s Initial Jobless claims fell 16,000 to 414,000 sta travel us and while the decline is good news, this is the tenth straight week that Jobless sta travel us Claims have remained back above the 400,000 level.
Rounding out the week on Friday are two important reports on the state of the economy: sta travel us Durable Goods Orders , which gives us an update sta travel us on consumer and business buying behavior on big-ticket items, and Gross Domestic Product , which is the broadest measure of economic activity.
Remember: Weak economic news normally causes money to flow out of Stocks and into Bonds, helping Bonds and home loan rates improve, while strong sta travel us economic news normally has the opposite result. As you can see in the chart below, Bonds and home loan rates traded sta travel us sideways sta travel us last week, with inflation news keeping market improvements from the instability in Greece in check. I ll be watching closely to see how world events and economic reports impact the markets this week.
1. Take a bite of the Big Apple. People know about beach-house rentals. But renting sta travel us a place in the city can also pay off, says Alexis de Belloy, of HomeAway.com. You can cook meals at home and use on-site laundry facilities which means you can downsize your luggage and side-step baggage fees. HomeAway recently listed a two-bedroom, one-bath apartment, which sleeps six, in midtown Manhattan for $275 per night in mid July; the minimum stay is four nights.
2. Rent a cabin in the woods. Accommodations at national sta travel us and state parks can run the gamut from luxurious lodges, such as the Ahwahnee in Yosemite ($590 for a weeknight in mid July), to cozy cabins in the woods. Recently, a cabin that sleeps six in Letchworth State Park, in upstate sta travel us New York, went for $344 per week (the minimum stay during the summer). To book a room in a lodge in one of the national parks, go to Xanterra.com ; for other options, such as campsites and cabins, sta travel us go to www.nps.gov . And for lodging close to home, browse your state government Web site.
3. Take a mini vacation. Looking for a quick getaway? Adding a Thursday or Sunday night to a Friday-Saturday stay could slash your overall hotel room rate by as much as 20% to 35% per night, says Bob Diener, of GetARoom.com. Of course, you might save up to 60% off published prices at a name-your-own-price Web site, such as Priceline, as long as you re prepared sta travel us to book the room before you know the hotel.
4. Groupon on the road. Using group-discount sites on vacation can trim 50% off your entertainment and food bills, says Anne Banas, of SmarterTravel.com. Register for new accounts, or change your location settings on existing accounts, sta travel us a few weeks before you take off. Banas also recommends doing a search for restaurant weeks plus your destination, visiting Goldstar.com for event tickets, and dropping by the local visitors bureau to scoop up extra discounts. Not visiting a major city? Check out state-sponsored Web sites, such as VisitFlorida.com, for discounts. And if you re a member of AAA or AARP, don t leave your membership card at home.
5. There is such a thing as a free breakfast. Rick Ingersoll, of FrugalTravelGuy.com, says that a complimentary breakfast in an expensive overseas location can cut his food bill in half. He eats one big meal late in the day in addition to breakfast, and snacks on store-bought food in-between. Many domestic hotel chains offer free breakfast, too. At Holiday Inns in the U.S. and Canada, kids under 12 eat gratis any time of day, and children under 19 stay free. Plus, summer is a great time for free summer concerts and local foodfests such as Chicago s Grant Park Music Festival and the Taste of Chicago so check local Web sites for schedules.
6. Stretch your money overseas. XE.com has a currency converter that lets you see how the dollar is performing against the local tender. Ingersoll s top three value destinations sta travel us are Cambodia, Poland and Thailand. Diener recommends you pay for reservations in advance in U.S. dollars to hedge against currency fluctuations. sta travel us The worst thing is when you get there and the hotel bill is $50 more, he says. Reprinted with permission.
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