YOUR Mortgage Minute -- April 3, 2009

Good Morning,

I hope that your Friday is off to a fabulous start.

The Labor Department reported that the economy lost 663,000 jobs in March, close to expectations of -660,000, and pushing the total number of jobs lost since the recession began in December of 2007 to 5.1 million.

January's numbers were revised lower by -86,000, however, one slim ray of hope was that there were no revisions for February. The Unemployment Rate rose to 8.5%, inline with estimates and up from 8.1% in February.

Just one short day after mark to market was ruled to be relaxed by FASB, I am hearing stories of banks already saying they may not need to sell assets to raise capital, which is encouraging to the financial system.

Mortgage Bonds have improved from their worst levels of the morning and for now I will recommend very cautiously floating, but again if closing is drawing near, locking in the gains now would be appropriate.

I hope that you enjoy the rest of your day. If there is ever anything that I can do for you, please do not hesistate to ask.