Interest Rates Nudge down again this week

Interest Rates have once again moved down about an eighth of a point over the last week as investors continue to move their investments into government securities due to the turmoil in the middle east, which have caused overall interest rates to move downward slightly,

The following are excerpts from the newsletter published by HSH Associates dated 3/18/2011:

“The world’s troubles sent investors scrambling for a place to hide this week, with stock markets having a few rough days. Among the most favorite places to stash cash are highly-liquid US Treasuries, and investor demand for them has driven the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury down by more than a quarter-percentage point over the last week or so.

The massive earthquake in Japan, followed by an indescribably destructive Tsunami which in turn triggered perhaps an unprecedented nuclear crisis may have far-reaching political and economic effects. In the middle east, political unrest is creating near civil war in Libya, and rising oil prices threaten to slow an already tepid domestic recovery.

All these troubles and others are to the benefit of US mortgage shoppers, who would be well-advised to take advantage of rates which are approaching 2011 lows. Although rates have moved off of last year’s levels, they were generated by a nascent, unsteady recovery which might have slipped into deflation. Six months or so later, and concerns of inflation are more the order of the day, and while challenged by troubles, the durability of the recovery no longer seems so much in doubt.

At some point, and probably at a faster-than-expected pace, interest rates will begin to move higher.Only a resolution of the nuclear trouble in Japan might cause much of a move in interest rates. Here’s hoping that comes as quickly as possible, even if it will mean slightly higher mortgage rates. Absent that, rates should be pretty flat next week.”

The following are interest rate quotes from Al Hermann of American/California Financial Services ,