For parents with children in college, or nearing college age, this video from NBC’s Today Show is worth watching. Investing in collegiate housing is not for everyone, but if the angle interests you, don’t forget to purchase an accompanying personal liability insurance for injuries that may occur on-site.

Economists worry about rising oil prices because it tends to generate higher pump prices for Americans. With more money spent on gasoline, there’s (theoretically) less money available to spend on goods and services. Today, GasBuddy.com says that the average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline is $2.792, up from $2.344 last year at this [...]

The National Association of Realtors® released its monthly Existing Home Sales report for August 2006 and, as usual, you should be ignoring it. The report discusses real estate on a national level and we all know that real estate is a local phenomenon. It’s not that the report isn’t helpful — it is. The Existing [...]

In a study of 2,036 U.S. adults commissioned by Visa USA, nearly half of all Americans are losing track of their money. An average of $45 in cash is “lost” each week in what Visa dubs “mystery spending”, Visa’s version of “I know I had this money in my wallet but I can’t figure out [...]

In a semi-surprise move last week, the Federal Reserve lowered the Fed Funds Rate by 0.500%. The Fed wants to prevent a dramatic economic slowdown that started in the housing sector and appears to be spilling over into other sectors now, too. According to some pundits, the half-point FFR drop was exactly what the markets [...]

For more proof that the Fed does not control mortgage rates, consider this: In the immediate aftermath of the Fed’s decision to lower the Fed Funds Rate by 0.50%, mortgage rates improved by about 0.125% on average. But, in the two days since, mortgage rates have not only given back those gains, but have approached [...]

Prime Rate is currently 7.750%. Prime Rate is the “shorthand” name for the Wall Street Journal Prime Rate, a variable interest rate that is used in pricing many types of consumer loans. These loans include: Home equity lines of credit Credit card loans Auto loans Prime Rate’s variable nature is tied to the Fed Funds [...]

The Fed lowered the Fed Funds Rate by 0.50% yesterday. A rate decrease was expected by most market participants, but the 50 basis points movement seemed to catch some players off-guard. Mortgage rates dipped in the wake of the announcement, but the real winners are homeowners with balances on their home equity lines of credit [...]

It’s all eyes on the Fed today; the market anxiously awaits the central bank’s 2:15 P.M. ET press release. Some of the market bias towards a 0.50% rate cut has decreased in favor of a 0.25% cut. This shift is largely psychological. Markets are trying to “get inside the head” of Fed chief Ben Bernanke, [...]

The volatile path of mortgage rates last week followed the changing expectations for Tuesday’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The FOMC sets the Fed Funds Rate, a benchmark interest rate upon which Prime Rate is based. According to Federal Funds Rate futures, there is a 94 percent chance that the Fed will lower the FFR [...]