•  Looking back over the last year we notice a discernible pattern that has played over the past decade and a half.  We found that we locked a predominate number of refinances at only 4 or 5 junctures over the past year.

To us it indicates the cyclic nature of the markets and pricing; the ebb and flow of supply and demand.

The cycle may be indicating that within a few weeks we reach another moment where those borrowers with higher rates can refinance into a lower rate and payment.  Events are lining up with the continued layoffs (Sam's Club, AOL) and now Toyota stops sales of some of their best selling models.  Anecdotal and incremental.  But it all adds up.

China slows its lending splurge of the past year.  Bernanke is now more likely to be renominated (here, we are torn).  And we have a proposed three year freeze on discretionary spending.

All this tends to slow the economy and is perceived to be bad news for growth.  But, bad news is good for mortgage rates.

•  Consumers Get Access to Licensing Registry
Consumers now have access to the National Mortgage Licensing System and Registry to check the credentials and background of state-licensed mortgage lenders or brokers.  Virginia loan officers will have to be registered by July 1, 2010.

•  Existing Home Sales Down 17%, Supply Rate Rises
Sales of existing single-family homes fell 17% in December to an annualized rate of 5.45 million units with distressed purchases accounting for almost one-third of the activity, according to new figures released by the National Association of Realtors.

We stop it from destroying our currency.

Inflation is a hidden tax and perhaps one of the most insidious crimes against the public.  "Inflation distorts the economy, it brings great harm to the public and it encourages speculation and mindless risk-taking." 

"Inflation is defined as the increase in the quantity of money and debt within an economy.  And contrary to what the government wants you to believe, inflation is certainly not an increase in the general price level within an economy.  Instead, an increase in the general price level within an economy is a consequence of inflation."

Our government does everything in its power to suppress the official 'inflation barometer'.  It shamelessly doctors their Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) calculations via various seasonal and hedonistic adjustments.  The chart below highlights the discrepancy between the CPI-U published by America's Bureau of Labor Statistics and the SGS Alternate CPI, which is calculated by Shadow Government Statistics using the old methodology.  As you can see, over the past 20 years, prices have been rising much faster than the officials would have you believe (thanks to our friends at The Daily Reckoning).

"Let there be no doubt, inflation is a total disaster and our world will be a better place without this reckless money-creation.  Contrary to official dogma, our world experienced tremendous progress during the 19th century, and there was no inflation during that period.  The chart below shows the changes in America's Consumer Price Index (CPI) over the past two centuries.  As you will observe, the CPI fell for most of the 19th century as the purchasing power of the American currency rose.  However, since the formation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, the CPI has exploded causing the purchasing power of the US dollar to spiral downwards."

This "buzz" was found on Minyanville's Buzz and Banter yesterday:

One of the key themes I'll be discussing tomorrow in Five Themes for 2010 (apologies for the delay, but it has been... a little busy around here) is Consumer Debt Repudiation.  Coming this weekend in the New York Times magazine's The Way We Live feature is a piece from Roger Lowenstein, perhaps best known for his book, "When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management," called "Walk Away From Your Mortgage!"

In the piece, Lowenstein observes that everyone from the CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association to President Obama has argued that walking away from your mortgage if you have the ability to pay it is "irresponsible" and/or "immoral."  But is it really?

"Time was, Americans would do anything to pay their mortgage — forgo a new car or a vacation, even put a younger family member to work.  But the housing collapse left 10.7 million families owing more than their homes are worth.  So some of them are making a calculated decision to hang onto their money and let their homes go.  Is this irresponsible?"

Maybe not.

"Businesses — in particular Wall Street banks — make such calculations routinely.  Morgan Stanley recently decided to stop making payments on five San Francisco office buildings.  A Morgan Stanley fund purchased the buildings at the height of the boom, and their value has plunged.  Nobody has said Morgan Stanley is immoral — perhaps because no one assumed it was moral to begin with.  But the average American, as if sprung from some Franklinesque mythology, is supposed to honor his debts, or so says the mortgage industry as well as government officials."

If it seems that Main Street borrowers are held to a different moral and ethical standard than Wall Street borrowers (and lenders), well, that's because they are.  This two-tiered moral system will further increase the tension between Main Street and Wall Street throughout 2010.

I don't believe I could have said it any better than Kevin Depew has here.  The point has been reached where we consumers realize we must act in a businesslike manner regarding the business of housing ourselves.  In both the strategic default case and refusing to pay top dollar at the zenith of a market bubble.