Mortgage rates have been hovering at historical lows for months—but some homeowners are waiting for even better deals before they take the plunge and refinance.
No doubt you've read about the European Union summit meeting in Brussels this past week, which was billed, in advance, as the negotiation that would finally deliver a final solution to Europe's debt crisis. You will probably not be surprised to hear that the outcome fell short of expectations.
Two weeks ago, the markets were rocked by the Standard & Poors ratings downgrade of longer-term U.S. Treasury securities. This past week, it was problems with European debt.
It's not immediately obvious, even for financial professionals, why U.S. stocks should suffer because Greece or Italy have trouble paying their debt obligations. But in a recent posting, Mohamed El-Erian, who serves as co-CEO of the world's largest bond management company, made an interesting analogy that helps to make the situation a bit clearer.
By now, you've probably heard that the Standard & Poor's debt rating agency has downgraded all U.S. government debt with more than a year of maturity, from the top AAA rating down to AA+. To put that in perspective, now only 17 countries enjoy the AAA rating on their government bonds. Typically, that means that they are considered the safest havens for cash, and therefore are able to pay the lowest interests rates on their borrowing.