Author: Mary Waters | Lending Agent
Key takeaways A mortgage prequalification lets potential homebuyers know how big of a loan they can qualify for. Prequalification is faster and easier to get than preapproval. Getting prequalified usually doesn’t negatively affect your credit score. Mortgage prequalification gives you a basic estimate of the loan amount a lender might extend you to help finance a house purchase. It’s not as concrete as mortgage preapproval, but it can help give you a sense of what you’d qualify for. But does prequalification affect your credit score? Here’s a closer look. What is mortgage prequalification? A mortgage prequalification is an estimate of…
Microsoft shares are looking a bit dented in 2025, but they’re worth buying, according to money manager Nancy Tengler of Laffer Tengler Investments. The firm’s CEO and chief investment officer joined CNBC’s ” Power Lunch ” on Tuesday to offer her take on the “Magnificent Seven” titan, as well as a pair of other market movers. Here’s what Tengler had to say during the “Three-Stock Lunch” segment. Microsoft Microsoft has not been exempt from the broader sell-off plaguing tech megacaps this year. Shares have fallen more than 6% in 2025 and are down nearly 16% since their high from last…
Key takeaways Tapping into home equity carries several risks, including putting the property at risk, the potential to fall into significant debt, and the dilution of a valuable asset. The unpredictable nature of the housing market and high interest rates are also reasons not to borrow against a home’s worth. Financial experts advise homeowners to consider how they’ll use their home equity, prioritize emergency savings and debt repayment, and shop around for rates. You’re feeling the need for some extra cash — with inflation and the high cost of living, who isn’t these days? — and it occurs to you…
In a warming world with increasingly extreme weather events, homeowners are turning to backup batteries for relief and peace of mind. But the backup only lasts only so long, and there’s a bigger problem at play: aging power grids.Enter the virtual power plant, managed through a cloud-based system. It’s a fertile market for a number of companies as consumers look for more reliability, especially in areas prone to extreme temperatures and storms.Base Power, headquartered in Austin, Texas, is a virtual power plant and hardware company that provides battery backup to homeowners. The startup manages the batteries, and virtually controls the…
It’s now been more than a week since mortgage rates ended the day higher than the previous day. And we haven’t recovered quite as much lost ground as 10yr Treasury yields, we’re getting pretty close to fully re-entering the narrow range that persisted before the April 2nd tariff announcement. Depending on one’s worldview, tariffs could be a good or bad thing. Let’s just say they’re a thing that can be good in the right applications and that the initial roll-out of the tariff plan was too much of a good thing. The early April rate spike was due to fallout…
The oldest baby boomers are rapidly approaching their 80th birthday, and those changing age demographics could lift a senior housing play, according to Jefferies. People aged 65 and older accounted for nearly 17% of the U.S. population in 2020 – 55.8 million individuals, according to the U.S. Census Bureau . The first wave of baby boomers, born in 1946, will turn 80 in 2026. That means there will likely be greater need for senior housing and care facilities in coming years. “The 80+ population is set to increase meaningfully over the next few years, which will drive a material increase…
New estimates from Morgan Stanley suggest investment opportunity in the global humanoid value chain as the technology gets closer to reality. Wall Street continues to double down on its forecasts of a multi-trillion dollar global market for humanoid robots, suggesting it will grow to be significantly larger than the global auto industry by the next couple of decades. New estimates from Morgan Stanley analysts forecast $4.7 trillion in global humanoid revenue by 2050, which the firm said is double the total revenue of the 20 largest automakers in 2024. What’s more, while auto revenue could “very well shrink over the…
We’re in the heart of earnings season here with some of the biggest tech names set to report this week. The biggest name set to report earnings this week — Apple — has a few factors working I believe justifies playing the stock on the upside. First we’ll hit the technicals and next we’ll look at the fundamentals. To start, let’s examine the decade-long weekly chart for AAPL . The purple dotted line is the 200-week moving average and it’s very obvious to see that it defended the bullish trend in 3 highlighted areas. In the latest volatility swoon (blue…
Consumer expectations for the future reached a 13-year low in April and could signal the possibility of a future recession. The Conference Board announced Tuesday that consumer confidence continues to fall, with the expectations index, which measures the short-term outlook by consumers on income, business and labor market conditions, dropping 12.5 points to 54.4, the lowest level since October 2011 and well below the threshold of 80 that usually signals a recession may be in the future. The survey found that purchasing plans for homes and other major acquisitions declined in April. Plans for buying appliances and electronics also pulled…
Nervous investors should keep in mind that market volatility often creates opportunity, according to Wells Fargo Investment Institute. Tariff-induced market tumult has rattled traders, with the S & P 500 tumbling 9% the week President Donald Trump rolled out his new “reciprocal” levies. But investors who are patient and willing to ride out the bumps could see outsized gains this time next year. .SPX 1M mountain S & P 500 1M chart “With this backdrop, it is natural to be concerned, but we would advise investors to allay their fears and view the volatility as a potential opportunity,” wrote Wells…