Posted on

Dow, S&P 500 finish at break-even levels in Harvey’s wake; Nasdaq logs a gain

U.S. stocks closed Monday trade little changed, with gains in health-care and technology stocks offsetting losses for energy and financials as investors watched the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey that has left parts of the Houston-area underwater. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed flat at 21,808. Shares of insurance giant Travelers Cos. Inc., traded lower in the aftermath of the storm, taking a toll on the blue-chip gauge. The S&P 500 index ended the session in the green but with a slight gain of 1.18 point, or less than 0.1%, at 2,444. The health-care sector rose 0.6%, posting the day’s best gain among the broad-market index’s 11 sectors, while energy and financials led losses, down 0.5% a piece. The Nasdaq Composite Index , meanwhile, posted the best performance among the three main U.S. equity benchmarks, up 0.3% at 6,283. Crude-oil prices were in focus as the now-Tropical storm Harvey continued to buffet the Gulf Coast region , a substantial energy refining hub for U.S. crude products, with heavy rains. October West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.30, or 2.7%, to settle at $46.57 a barrel. Meanwhile, September gasoline climbed 4.6 cents, or 2.7%, to $1.712 a gallon– the highest finish for a front-month contract since April 17. Crude products saw prices sink as the devastating storm saps demand from refineries but puts gasoline prices higher demand.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Posted on

Smart Marketing and Hands-on Care Set the Stage for Success

By Susanne Dwyer

Frazzano_Team

In the following interview, Joe Frazzano, leader of The Frazzano Team with J. Rockcliff REALTORS®, discusses heading up a team, marketing, and strategies for success.

Years in Real Estate: 29
Regions Served: Diablo/San Ramon Valley, East Bay, San Francisco, Calif.
Team Members: Alex Tse, Manel Sousou, Keith McKeown, Shirley Yang and our admin, Teri Matthews

You have consistently been ranked one of the top REALTORS® in your area. What does it take to achieve this?
Joe Frazzano: I have been licensed since 1988, and after working in new homes for 10 years, I went into the resale side of the business. I started with a marketing plan to get in touch with my past clients from new-home sales while building a new base of clients. I feel the momentum of branding, and the visibility it brings, allows me to always stay in the public’s eye. That being said, delivering top-notch customer service has resulted in 70 percent of our current business coming from past client connections.

Where do you spend the bulk of your marketing money?
JF: We blend our marketing dollars, combining old school and traditional methods such as newspapers, direct mail, etc., with new marketing techniques like social media, including Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. We find that adding everything to the mix is the best formula for us.

How many team members do you have, and how do you recruit? What do you look for in a new team member?
JF: I have four other team members actively selling and one long-term, full-time employee who runs the back-end of our business. We’ve been the same group of team members for over 10 years with no turnover. The only new team member we added was an intern who left to finish business school. I’m not looking for any more team members right now, as the team we have works very well for the business we have. Last year, we assisted 195 families in finding homes with an average sales price of $1.1 million.

What are you most proud of about your team?
JF: Three things come to mind: work ethic, professionalism and a commitment to always do better. My team’s work ethic and the level of professionalism they exhibit has resulted in extremely high customer satisfaction. I’m also proud that we haven’t had any turnover, as everyone here likes being a part of The Frazzano Team.

How do you differentiate your team from the competition?
JF: We demonstrate to our clients that our proven results come from our formula of top-notch marketing, hands-on client care and our vast knowledge of our local market and trends.

How does effective staging help your team stand out?
JF: Staging has become the norm in our marketplace. For us, staging is all-inclusive, meaning we make sure the home is clean inside and out, and provide proper guidance so our clients understand the impact and direct benefit to them.

What else is important to your success in real estate?
JF: One thing we believe in is setting expectations with our clients. We discuss all options with them and make sure we’re …read more

From:: Real Estate News

Posted on

65 Mortgage Events Scheduled Through End of 2017

More than 65 mortgage-related conferences, workshops and other events are on Mortgage Daily’s Mortgage Conference Calendar through the end of this year.

On Sept. 7, the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association will hold its 18th Annual Reverse Mortgage Day at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas. Around 110 people are expected to attend the event, which costs $209.

The event is designed to give lending professionals, bank executives and academic researchers important information about the policies that will affect reverse mortgage lending in the future.

…read more

From:: Financing

Posted on

Oil ends at 1-month low with refinery shutdowns expected to raise oil supplies

Oil prices dropped Monday to settle at their lowest level in about a month as refinery shutdowns due to storm system Harvey raised concerns that domestic supplies of crude oil will rise. October West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.30, or 2.7%, to settle at $46.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the lowest finish for a front-month contract since July 24, according to FactSet data.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Posted on

Goldman, Travelers stocks exact nearly 50-point toll on Dow industrials in afternoon trade

Shares of insurance giant Travelers Cos. Inc. and investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc., on Monday afternoon were yanking the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower. The fallout of now-Tropical storm Harvey, which has submerged much of the Houston area in what is expected to be 50 inches of rain. That has whacked insurance companies, while growing doubts about additional rate hikes in 2017, has pressured bank shares. Travelers’s stock was off 2.7%, or about $3.41, while Goldman’s shares were down about 1.6% at $3.55, translating to a 47-point retreat in the price-weighted Dow industrials . A $1 move in any of the Dow equates to a 6.84-point swing in the blue-chip average. Overall, the Dow reversed modest gains at the open, to trade down 25 points, or 0.2%, at 21,781, while the S&P 500 index was off 2 points at 2,441, and the Nasdaq Composite Index traded 0.2% higher.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Posted on

Demand for 5-year Treasury auction breaks records amid strong foreign demand

A strong auction for 5-year Treasury notes helped to push down yields for government paper across the board after foreign buyers showed strong appetite. Indirect buyers, a proxy for non-U.S. investors, snapped up 69.1% of the issue, its third largest in history of the auction. While, dealers, or traders authorized to buy and sell government securities from the Federal Reserve, took down 17.5% of the notes, their all-time smallest share. A smaller allocation to dealers can suggest a broader array of investors are interested in the issue. Prior to the sale, trading for Treasurys was mostly flat, but yields were dragged lower after the auction. The yield for the 5-year Treasury note [s:tmubmusd05y] slipped 1.7 basis point to 1.742%, while the 30-year Treasury bond’s yield [s:tmubmusd30y] fell from its intraday highs to 2.753%. The 10-year note’s yield [s:tmubmusd10y] was slightly lower at 2.162%. “The big buyside takedown suggests that there was strong foreign demand, but regardless of the source, there are strong buyers of 5s here,” wrote Thomas Simon, senior money market economist for Jefferies.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Posted on

Demand for 5-year auctions break records amid strong foreign demand

A strong auction for 5-year Treasury notes helped to push down yields for government paper across the board after foreign buyers showed strong appetite. Indirect buyers, a proxy for non-U.S. investors, snapped up 69.1% of the issue, its third largest in history of the auction. While, dealers, or traders authorized to buy and sell government securities from the Federal Reserve, took down 17.5% of the notes, their all-time smallest share. A smaller allocation to dealers can suggest a broader array of investors are interested in the issue. Prior to the sale, trading for Treasurys was mostly flat, but yields were dragged lower after the auction. The yield for the 5-year Treasury note [s:tmubmusd05y] slipped 1.7 basis point to 1.742%, while the 30-year Treasury bond’s yield [s:tmubmusd30y] fell from its intraday highs to 2.753%. The 10-year note’s yield [s:tmubmusd10y] was slightly lower at 2.162%. “The big buyside takedown suggests that there was strong foreign demand, but regardless of the source, there are strong buyers of 5s here,” wrote Thomas Simon, senior money market economist for Jefferies.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Posted on

Saudi Arabia, Russia look to extend output-cut deal through June: WSJ

Saudi Arabia and Russia discussed the possibility of extending their production-cut agreement for another three months during a meeting in St. Petersburg in July, according to The Wall Street Journal. The agreement between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and some non-OPEC members to cut roughly 1.8 million barrels per day from their peak October 2016 levels, was due to expire at the end of March. Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio del Pino was set to visit Russia and Saudi Arabia to discuss compliance with the cuts and a possible extension of the deal ahead of a planned meeting on Sept. 22 in Vienna, according to the report, which cites people familiar with the matter. Oil futures continued to trade sharply lower, with October West Texas Intermediate crude down $1.55, or 3.2%, at $46.32 a barrel.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Posted on

Expedia chairman says he believes Dara Khosrowshahi will accept Uber CEO role

Expedia Inc. Chairman Barry Diller confirmed in an email to employees Monday that Dara Khosrowshahi has been tapped as the next chief executive of Uber Technologies Inc. and said that he believes he’ll accept the job. “Nothing has been yet finalized, but having extensively discussed this with Dara I believe it is his intention to accept,” Diller wrote in the August 28 email, which was released in an filing with the SEC. He added that he has asked Khosrowshahi not to communicate with employees until he formally accepts or rejects the job. Shares of Expedia were down 4% Monday afternoon.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News