Mortgage Blog

Pomona Rotarian Ray Adams receives a grant to increase public awareness for the Rotary Club of Pomona. This Public Relations effort will reach out to business owners, the public and potential business owners through bench signs placed throughout Pomona. The messages focuses on Rotary’s humanitarian efforts “Promoting peace through International scholarships and the Polio Eradication Initiative” and “We all want the same thing; Peace.” For more information about your local Rotary Club or Rotary International contact your local Rotarian or log onto ww.Rotary.org.

Looking for a higher credit score? There's good reason to do so -- a higher score can give you a greater array of financial options and more favorable credit offers. Even if you already have a good score, there's always room for improvement. Keep in mind, however, that your credit scores are based on your history of borrowing and repaying money, so there's no way to instantly boost it. But here are the most effective ways to strengthen your credit score over time.

Top 10 Ways to Improve Your Score

10. Learn what your current FICO® Credit Score is and what appears on your credit report.

9. Don't open new credit cards that you don't need just to increase your available credit. This approach could backfire and actually lower your score.

8. Try to keep your total account balances as low as possible or below the 1/3 level. High outstanding debt may negatively affect your score, as you have a greater chance of missing payments.

7. Correct any incorrect information that might appear on your credit report.

6. If your credit is severely damaged, or you have a very short credit history, there are still ways to improve your credit over time. Consider opening new accounts responsibly and paying them off on time.

5. If you fall behind on paying a bill because of illness, unemployment, or family issues, write a short explanation to the credit reporting agencies. They will add it to your credit report. Also, call your creditor to explain the circumstances and, if possible, work out a payment schedule you can meet.

4. If you need help managing your credit, contact a reliable nonprofit agency, or Mortgage Professional.

3. To minimize the number of inquiries on your credit report, don't apply for multiple credit cards over a short period of time, or for a card you're not likely to get. Apply for new credit accounts only as needed.

2. Make all of your payments on time. If forced to miss a payment, be sure to pay the following month. Accounts more than 60 days past due will be indicated on your credit report.

1. Continue to check your credit report regularly, correcting errors and inaccuracies that can damage your credit score.

In the absence of market-moving economic reports being released, Bonds are continuing to react to the action in the Stock market. We remain deep in the midst of "earnings season", where businesses report their quarterly earnings to the public - and as the market absorbs the numbers, traders and investors will make investment decisions based on what they hear. Strong earnings will cause investors to put more money into Stocks, but may access money already invested in Bonds to do so. This selling of Bonds hurts Bond pricing and our rate sheets. On the flip side, weak earnings will cause investors to pull money out of Stocks and park it into Bonds, thereby benefiting Bond pricing and our rate sheet. And that's exactly what's been happening today, as a series of weak reports are putting Stocks under selling pressure, and helping Bonds hold their ground.

There are no economic reports on the docket today, but another round of Bond supply is set to hit the market at 1pm ET by way of $6 Billion in 20-Year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS). The extent of foreign demand and overall success of the auction could have an impact on pricing later today. Yesterday's auction of three and six-month T-Bills showed decent results and foreign participation, so if today's auction shows similar results, the overall Bond market could benefit.

Bonds closed above their 25-day Moving Average during the past two trading sessions but have not made a convincing break beyond it. If Bonds are able to separate themselves above the 25-day MA, this once tough ceiling of resistance should become a floor of support. While the Bond remains above the 25-day Moving Average, we'll remain in a Cautiously Floating stance.