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Oil futures gain for the day, but lose nearly 7% for the week

Oil futures rose on Friday, rebounding after a four-session decline as a slowdown in U.S. job growth lowered the likelihood of a Federal Reserve interest-rate increase at the central bank meeting later this month. That could lead to weakness in the dollar and buoy dollar-denominated prices for oil. Russian President Vladimir Putin also called on oil producers to reach a deal to cap output. October WTI crude rose $1.28, or 3%, to settle at $44.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It still lost 6.7% for the week, according to FactSet data.

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From:: Stock Market News

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Refinances Push Mortgage Activity Higher

Despite deterioration in interest rates and the upcoming holiday weekend, home loan originators picked up the pace this week thanks to a bump in refinance activity.

The U.S. Mortgage Market Index from OpenClose and Mortgage Daily, an indication of upcoming loan production, closed out the week ended Sept. 2 at 171.

The index, which is based on average per-user rate locks from OpenClose clients through the seven days ended Thursday at midnight, rose a percent from a week earlier.

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From:: Financing

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Gold futures settle higher, eke out slight gain for the week

Gold futures settled higher on Friday as the slow pace of U.S. job growth in August dulled the prospects for a Federal Reserve interest-rate increase at a meeting later this month. Prices for the yellow metal finished the week with a slight gain of less than 0.1%. December gold rose $9.60, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,326.70 an ounce on Comex.

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From:: Stock Market News

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FBI releases documents from Hillary Clinton email investigation

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Friday released documents from the Hillary Clinton email investigation. The bureau said it did so in the interest of transparency as well as numerous Freedom of Information Act requests. The FBI recommended that Clinton not be prosecuted over her handling of classified information on her personal email server while secretary of state. The documents are now online.

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From:: Stock Market News

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Oil futures pare gains after data show rise in U.S. drilling rig count

Oil futures pared some of their gains Friday after data from Baker Hughes revealed that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil edged up by 1 to 407 rigs in the latest week. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, rose by 8 to 497, Baker Hughes said. October crude was at $44.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $1.19, or 2.8%, from Thursday’s settlement. It traded around $44.46 before the rig data.

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From:: Stock Market News

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HECM Originators Reverse Slump

After falling to the lowest level in nearly two years, originators of government-insured reverse mortgages pushed monthly volume to a five-month high.

The Federal Housing Administration endorsed 4,387 home-equity conversion mortgages in August — the most since March, when there were 4,535.

During the previous month, HECM endorsements numbered 3,534 — the fewest since August 2014, when FHA endorsed 3,256 reverse mortgages.

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From:: Financing

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Moody’s: Bond investors will also benefit from FHFA HARP replacement

The Federal Housing Finance Agency shook up the mortgage world recently when it announced not only that it planned to extend the Home Affordable Refinance Program for nine additional months, but also that it planned to replace HARP with a new mortgage refinance program. A new report from Moody’s suggests that the new refinance program is more beneficial to borrowers and to the investors that buy up some of the credit risk tied to their mortgages. …read more

From:: Real Estate Wire

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Solid Expansion in Mortgage Employment

The monthly number of non-bank mortgage jobs grew by nearly 5,000, and a weak report on overall jobs is likely to keep interest rates competitive.

Nonfarm payroll employment expanded by 151,000 jobs during all of August, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday.

The total was short of the roughly 175,000 expected by many and far less than the upwardly revised 275,000 jobs added during the previous month.

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From:: Financing