Lawler: “Slam-Dunk” Stimulus? MS = Missing Something!!!!

``The analysts also display a complete lack of understanding about the refinance process, transactions costs, and mortgage rates. E.g., the authors, presumably citing Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey on average 30-year mortgage rates, note that current rates are about 4 ½%. However, that 4 ½ % “quote” (the latest survey showed 4.56%) includes a 0.7 point fee. More important, however, there are SIZABLE transactions costs associated with refinancing a mortgage... What the analysts SHOULD have done, of course, was to focus on the HARP and the FHA streamlined refi programs, and suggest potential changes that might make the programs more successful.''