Good afternoon! Welcome to this week’s Watch-It Wednesday – our weekly video blog where we answer your mortgage questions! We get a lot of questions about VA loans so we thought we’d take this opportunity to answer them! We brought in Quicken Loans team member and veteran of the US Army, Clayton Closson, to explain some of the VA loan requirements that you need to know about if you’re interested in getting a mortgage with the VA. Take it away, Clayton!
If you can’t see the embedded video, watch our VA Mortgage Requirements video here.
For 18 consecutive quarters, from Q2,’02 through Q3,’06, S&P 500 operating earnings increased at least 10% each quarter. Initially the gains were a rebound from the earnings declines of the 2000-2002 Bear market and recession, and later on they were reflective of an accelerating market and recovering economy. Then came the housing bust, liquidity, unemployment, and for a brief period, true fear. However, with Q1,’11 earnings mostly behind us (97% reported), the S&P 500 has now posted five consecutive quarters of double-digit earnings gains. Based on current estimates through Q4,’12, the index is expected to post another seven consecutive quarters of double-digit gains, bringing the run to at least 12. In addition, Q3,’11 is expected to post an all-time high for earnings, at US$ 25.09 per S&P 500 share (or US$ 228.7 billion in aggregate), outpacing the current record of US$ 24.06 (US$ 213.7 billion in aggregate) set in Q2,’07. Therefore, Read more…
Rather than raise taxes, Republicans are arguing for the liquidation of government assets to help reduce national debt. Items up for sale include the U.S. gold supply, student loan and securities debt, federal buildings, utilities and even national parks. The administration, however, is not considering liquidation as a viable option. Experts point out that even if the U.S. sold all of its gold at $1,500 an ounce, it would only reduce the debt by 3%; however, disagreements at the bargaining table between Republicans and Democrats may force the issue to be readdressed. For more on this continue reading the following article from Money Morning.
It would be the greatest garage sale in history.
The United States Treasury possesses 261.5 million ounces of gold, worth about $392.25 billion at current prices.
Some in Washington say the time has come for the country to sell some of its gold, along with other government assets such as land and buildings, to pay down the $14.3 trillion federal debt and give Congress more time to resolve the federal debt ceiling crisis.
“It’s just sort of sitting there,” Ron Utt, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, told the Washington Post.
When the holiday season rolls around, many of us naturally turn to our credit cards and treat them as a viable way to plump up our budgets for gift giving. Sure, credit cards can be a real life saver when cash is tight, but the secret to using our credit cards intelligently for purchases over the holidays is to stick to the rules, stick to the plan and do not overdo anything.
Rules? Yes, of course there are rules.
Before you buy anything for the holiday season, you absolutely must be willing to sit down and commit to some basic rules for how your credit cards will be used. Furthermore, you absolutely must muster up the strength to stick to those rules no matter what happens along the way.
First and foremost you are going to want to be setting a spending limit, by taking a look at your finances before you go out shopping.
When the holiday season rolls around, many of us naturally turn to our credit cards and treat them as a viable way to plump up our budgets for gift giving. Sure, credit cards can be a real life saver when cash is tight, but the secret to using our credit cards intelligently for purchases over the holidays is to stick to the rules, stick to the plan and do not overdo anything.