Monday Mortage, Market & Diaper News - October 25, 2010 - Edmonton and Calgary

First Foundation Best Rates to Open the Week:

Term Mortgage Rates
1 Year 2.50%
2 Year 2.99%
3 Year 2.90%
4 Year 3.49%
5 Year 3.49%
7 Year 4.75%
10 Year 5.15%

ARM / Variable 2.30%
Line of Credit 3.50%

Qualifying Rate – 5.29%

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 62.4 points at 12,663.58, while the TSX Venture Exchange was up 22.3 points at 1,900.53.

Resources, which are largely priced in U.S. dollars, surged on a selloff in the greenback after this past weekend’s Group of 20 leaders meeting in South Korea produced few firm policy initiatives, giving investors little reason to stop selling the U.S. currency.

“The weakness in the U.S. dollar stems from a general view that the greenback is headed even lower from these levels and the G20 conference over the weekend hasn’t done much to alleviate concerns about the ongoing weakness in the U.S. dollar,” said Elvis Picardo, an analyst and strategist at Global Securities in Vancouver.

The U.S. dollar fell broadly on Monday as traders sold it on the view that the U.S. central bank was ready to turn on the printing press again next week.

The Fed is expected to launch a second round of asset purchases at its Nov. 2-3 meeting, a process intended to push down interest rates and one that would make the U.S. dollar less attractive than higher-yielding currencies.

Stocks also got a boost this morning after participation countries in the G20 conference vowed to refrain from “competitive devaluation” of their respective currencies.

In other news…

The team at First Foundation is very proud of our own Gord McCallum, who valiantly dressed as an infant, diaper an’ all, during the wrap-up event for the second annual Baby Heroes diaper drive campaign in support of the Terra Centre for pregnant and parenting teens. This year’s Baby Heroes campaign raised 116,431 diapers for teen parents, thanks in part to the corporate challenge between the Realtors Association and the Alberta Mortgage Brokers Association ( AMBA) who raised 25,403 and 23,692 diapers, respectively.

A huge thank you goes out to all who participated and to our big-hearted boss, who was willing to don a diaper for a great cause!