Ray Jones

Weekend Mortgage Rates: Bank of America, Citi, Chase, BBT, Wells Fargo

May 25, 2013 By Ray Jones

Bank of America

Standard 30 year loans at Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) are being offered for 3.750% today yielding an APR of 3.891%. The short term, popular 15 year fixed rate mortgage interest rates stand at 3.250% yielding an APR of 3.504% today.

5 year ARMs at BoA are 2.625% and the APR is 2.932%. The 7 year ARM deals start at 2.750% currently and an APR of 2.976%. The 10 year ARM interest rates start at 3.375% today with an APR of 3.319%.

30 year refinance loan deals at BoA are 3.875% yielding an APR of 4.039% today. Shorter term, popular 15 year refi FRM interest rates are available starting at 3.250% and an APR of 3.508%. 5 year refinance ARMs are coming out at 2.625% at BoA. with a starting APR of 2.927%. 7/1 Adjustable Rate Mortgages are published at 2.750% currently carrying an APR of 2.969%. ARM loans in the 10 year refi category have been quoted at 3.375% today with a starting APR of 3.324%.

CitiMortgage

The benchmark 30 year fixed rate loans at Citi Mortgage (NYSE:C) are on the books at 3.750% with an APR of 3.920% today. Shorter term 15 year loan interest rates have been published at 2.875% with an APR of 3.189%.

Standard 30 year refinance loan interest rates are coming out at 3.875% at Citi Mortgage yielding an APR of 4.041%. The short term, popular 15 year refinance loan deals at the bank stand at 3.000% today with an APR of 3.288%.

BB&T

he best 30 year loan interest rates at BB&T Corp. (NYSE:BBT) are being quoted at 3.125% today yielding an APR of 3.531%. Shorter term, popular 15 year loan interest rates have been offered at 3.875% and an APR of 4.362%.

10 year fixed rate loans can be had for 3.125% and APR of 4.057% today. 20 year fixed rate mortgage interest rates at the bank are available starting at 2.875% today and an APR of 3.500%.

30 year refinance loan deals are 3.125% at BB&T today and an APR of 3.531%. The shorter term 15 year refi fixed rate mortgages have been offered at 3.875% today with an APR of 4.362%. 10 year refinance fixed rate loans at the bank are on the books at 3.125% yielding an APR of 4.057%. The best 20 year refinance loan interest rates at the bank stand at 2.875% with an APR of 3.500%.

Chase Bank

The benchmark 30 year fixed rate mortgages at Chase Bank (NYSE:JPM) are listed at 3.875% carrying an APR of 3.937% today. Popular 15 year loan interest rates have been listed at 3.250% today with an APR of 3.394%.

The 5/1 Adjustable Rate Mortgage interest rates at Chase are published at 2.375% with a starting APR of 2.831%. The 7 year ARM loans are being quoted at 2.625% currently yielding an APR of 2.872% to start.

The best 30 year refinance fixed rate mortgage interest rates have been quoted at 3.875% at Chase today carrying an APR of 3.957%. The shorter term 15 year refi fixed rate mortgage interest rates can be had for 3.000% yielding an APR of 3.089%. In the ARM arena, 5 year refinance interest rates at Chase have been published at 2.500%. with an APR of 2.874%. ARM interest rates in the 7 year refinance category are available starting at 2.625% with an APR of 2.872% to start.

Wells Fargo

Standard 30 year loans at Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) have been offered at 3.750% yielding an APR of 4.090%. The best 30 year FHA fixed rate mortgages have been quoted at 3.625% yielding a bit higher APR than the conventional loan of 4.360%. 15 year loan deals have been offered at 2.875% carrying an APR of 3.365% today.

The 5 year ARM loans are being quoted at 2.125% at Wells Fargo with an APR of 2.922%. 5 year FHA Adjustable Rate Mortgages are being offered for 2.250% with an APR of 2.599%.

The benchmark 30 year refinance fixed rate mortgage interest rates at Wells Fargo stand at 3.875% and APR of 4.042% today. 30 year refinance FHA fixed rate loans start at 3.750% at the bank with an APR of 4.879%. The best 30 year refinance jumbo loans are being quoted at 3.875% today and an APR of 3.986%.

Large 30 year refinance FRMs have been listed at 4.000% with an APR of 4.126%.

Large 30 year FHA refinance loan interest rates stand at 3.750% and an APR of 4.832%.

Shorter term 15 year refinance FRM interest rates have been offered at 3.000% and APR of 3.291% today. 5 year refi ARM loans at Wells Fargo have been published at 2.250%. showing an APR of 2.817%. refi FHA ARM interest rates in the 5 year category are coming out at 2.250% and the APR is 2.942%. The 5/1 refi Jumbo Adjustable Rate Mortgage interest rates are being offered for 2.500% yielding an APR of 2.850% to start. Large 30 year refinance ARM loan interest rates have been listed at 2.500% and an APR of 2.864%.

Acer Aspire R7 Laptops Announced with Windows 8 Out of the Box

May 6, 2013 By Ray Jones

Acer recently launched its new Aspire R7 series of Windows 8-powered laptops, as the Taiwanese company added to its upcoming list of product releases. Simultaneous to the introduction of the Aspire R7, Acer also announced its Iconia A1 series of budget-priced Android tablets, while inadvertently announcing a third product in the process.

The Acer Aspire R7 is an interesting product, as it is more of a crossover device than a laptop; in the same way that crossover vehicles are car-SUV hybrids, crossover devices in consumer electronics mix the qualities of tablets and laptops into one single product release. The Aspire R7 makes use of Ezel technology in order to switch the screen accordingly for keyboard or touchscreen use, thus making it go beyond the traditional concept of crossover devices as defined by Microsoft’s Surface RT and Surface Pro.

As we stated earlier, it was Acer’s plan from the get-go to launch the Aspire R7 and the Iconia A1, but what it didn’t have planned was the announcement of a Windows 8 tablet. Apparently, Amazon had accidentally outed this Acer Windows 8 tablet, which would be the first slate released that runs on Microsoft’s Windows 8 platform. As for the Iconia A1, this device will likely be positioned against the Amazon Kindle Fire/Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7 rather than the iPad mini and Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0. The Iconia A1 costs only $169, which makes it much cheaper than the Aspire R7 crossover laptop/tablet hybrid, which is priced quite close to $1,000.

iPhone 6 Features a Larger Screen – iPhone 5S Released this Coming Fall

May 1, 2013 By Ray Jones

iPhone 5S is expected to be released this fall, after internal delays pushing back the launch date till after the summer months

Smartphone vendors have made too many ‘tradeoffs’ with the user experience with large display handsets, according to Apple CEO, Tim Cook, and states that he shares no interest in making the same ‘tradeoff’ with the iPhone.

Cook’s comments differs from what the media is currently portraying where the market is saying that Apple will not release an Iphone with a larger display due to not managing to provide a suitable package. However, Cook may have just been setting expectations for the upcoming iPhone 5S launch because a new report states that Apple’s iPhone 6 will be sporting a larger display without the ‘tradeoffs’ seen in current phablets, and is set to launch some time next year.

Cook stated that their competitors have made large tradeoffs in order to provide customers with a larger display, and assured the public that Apple will not be shipping a larger display iPhone as long as these tradeoffs still exist. The executive’s comments make it clear that we should not be expecting a larger display in the iPhone 5 which is expected to launch this coming fall.

However, the CEO’s comments may have been intended to prevent prospective iPhone buyers from skipping the iPhone 5S and wait for something better and bigger, since Jefferies analyst Peter Misek, already sent a research note to clients about an iPhone 6 with a larger screen that is expected to launch in June 2014.

Meanwhile, Misek states that iPhone 5S will features new color options, an upgraded processor, a better camera and possibly a fingerprint scanner, according to a report in Financial Post.

Apple’s iPhone 5S is expected to be released this coming fall after some internal delays that pushed the launch back after summer.

Luxury Diesel SUVs: Jeep, Porsche, Mercedes, Volkswagen

April 30, 2013 By Ray Jones

Diesel SUVs compared The Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel and Porsche Cayenne Diesel are fresh faces whose base vehicles were introduced in the market in 2011, however did not offer a diesel engine until a few years later. The Volkswagen Touareg TDI is another of the pack’s contenders, whose model also came about in 2011. Then again, the Mercedes-Benz ML350 BlueTec, an associate of the M-Class helped trigger the expansion of the luxury SUV market when it was released, back in 1998.

These 4 SUVs mentioned enjoy a common bond by possessing a 3.0-liter turbodiesel V-6 torque engines producing 240 hp and have 265mm tires, however each has its own uniqueness.

The Porsche and Volkswagen arise from a series of vehicles of nearly 10 years. High expectations are expected of them, where the first Touareg introduced in 2004 won SUV of the year and the second iteration of the Cayenne was the winner in 2011. Then, the original M-Class was the 1998 Truck of the Year and is currently in its third generation. Also, the Grand Cherokee was the 1993 Truck of the Year. More than a decade passed after winning the title, when Jeep experimented with a different diesel for two years, which was known as Common Rail Diesel. The two years were from 2007 to 2008. Predictions are that Jeep will continue to use its EcoDiesel for more than two years.

The Mercedes-Benz ML350 BlueTec is considered to be the best option for purchasers who crave refinement will be extremely satisfied with it. Its all-aluminium V-6 engine also offered the most torque in a test carried out to compare these 4 vehicles.

Sunday’s Meeting: Greece to Layoff 15,000 Civil Servants by End of 2014

April 29, 2013 By Ray Jones

Greek workers protest against the layoff scheme Yesterday, 29 April, Greek decision law-makers agreed to cut down government workers in order to gain 8.8 billion euros ($11.5 billion) in bailout funds.

The vote taken signifies 15,000 civil servants to be sacked by the end of 2014. This is the first time that the Greek government has declared to cut its workforce of 700,000 people.

The Greek Constitution protected individuals hired by the public sector to a permanent position, and approximately one of four Greeks is on the payroll, at least, before yesterday. However, part of the agreement made between the Greek Government and its creditors, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund is to cut the amount of the government’s workforce.

The layoff is coming at a bad time since unemployment has reached 27 percent. Also, previous austerity measures had cut public workers’ pay by 30 percent and reduced pension benefits.

The meeting on Sunday, yesterday, consisted of a heated debate and included many protesters outside. The vote resulted in a 168-123 vote. According to ADEDY, the civil servants union, the result signifies the end of the country’s welfare state, however the three parties that rule the country in coalition agreed with the lay-off bill.

The EU and IMF officials both declared that Greece is on the right track to reach its bailout targets, earlier on this month. However, each austerity measure has triggered a lot of protests, most of which were violent and critics of such austerity measures being taken state that the increase in taxes and spending cuts imposed by struggling Eurozone economies has made their matters worse by increasing unemployment and not rendering growth.

2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Prices and Convertible

April 28, 2013 By Ray Jones

The all attractive 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray at the Detroit auto show held in January The seventh generation 2014 Corvette Stingray Model costs $1400 than the sixth generation 2013 Corvette. On Friday, Chevrolet announced the price tag of the new C7 Corvette Stingray which starts at $51,995, including destination. The convertible version will cost $56,995.

Both the C7 and convertible version represent a $1400 price increase over the previous model of the Corvette Stingray coupe.

The C7 Corvette strikes back with an innovative design rather than the traditional set design of two sets of round taillights. Chevrolet stated that the new Corvette’s lamps on the 2014 model are angled distinctively, in order to attract younger buyers.

Also, horsepower and torque are both rated at 450, representing a good increase in power. Consumers are provided with the option of choosing between a seven-speed transmission with rev-matching or a six-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters.

The C7 weight 99 pounds less than the previous C6 model which made the engine’s job easier to keep the 6.2-liter V-8 engines and be more fuel efficient. Together with this, General Motors introduced direct injection and variable valve timing.

Apart from such characteristics, the C7 will feature a carbon fiber hood, Sirius satellite radio and eight-way power seats, apart from other technologically advanced characteristics.

Chevrolet displayed a C7 option at the car’s world debut in Detroit in January which would sell for $73,360. The model included color heads-up display, navigation, heated and cooled Napa leather seats and an upgraded Bose stereo.

The 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is expected to be delivered to dealerships, this coming September.