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Financial Markets Waiting On Results of Upcoming Fed Meeting
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McLEAN, VA -- Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market SurveySM (PMMSSM) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.74 percent, with an average 0.6 point, for the week ending September 15, 2005, up from last week when it averaged 5.71 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.75 percent.
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Office of the Chief Economist: September 2005 Economic Outlook
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The effect of Hurricane Katrina will be felt in the battered Gulf region for quite some time to come. The effect on the national economy has also been quite immediate through lost output from the Gulf region, decline in wage income from workers who have lost their jobs, spike in energy costs, and disruption to import-export trade flows through New Orleans and other near-by ports.
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Mortgage applications fall despite lower rates
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Applications for U.S. home mortgages fell for the second consecutive week despite a steady decline in fixed mortgage interest rates in August, an industry group's figures showed on Wednesday.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications -- which includes both purchase and refinancing loans -- fell 4.5 percent to 722.5 in the week ended Aug. 26. In the previous week, the index fell 0.7 percent.
Fixed 30-year mortgage rates fell 5 basis points, or 0.05 of a percentage point, to an average of 5.73 percent, excluding fees, compared with 5.78 percent in the previous week. The 30-year rate, considered the industry benchmark, has steadily declined from 5.91 percent in the week ending Aug. 5.
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Blaming Washington for High Gas Prices?
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The fact of the matter is that everything that is happening today has happened many times since the first gas crisis back in the 1970s. And people still behave in the same manner each time this happens.
Every time this happens, they go into a frenzy. 'How high can prices go and how much can I afford before this becomes unbearable?' 'Will this ever end?”
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Consider Protecting Your Own Identit
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Some one in six consumers, representing almost 34 million people, say they have bought a privacy protection product to help avoid identity theft and that's fueling an unproven multi-billion dollar industry that barely existed a few years ago.
Consumers are buying into a cottage industry that offers services consumers often can provide for themselves -- at little or no cost, provided they learn how to perform those tasks.
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Freddie Mac Extends Mortgage Relief Policy
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McLean, VA -- Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) has extended its mortgage relief policies for borrowers affected by Hurricane Katrina in locations declared Major Disaster Areas by President Bush. Freddie Mac also announced today that it is donating $50,000 to the American Red Cross to support hurricane relief efforts. In addition, the Freddie Mac Foundation is matching Freddie Mac employee donations to relief efforts and will double the match if donations support Habitat for Humanity's hurricane relief efforts.
'Our goal is to help families affected by Hurricane Katrina to keep their homes,' said Richard F. Syron, Freddie Mac Chairman and CEO. 'We also want to ensure that families who are displaced from their homes receive the assistance they need.'
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