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President Obama will announce a new refinance program today in Virginia at 11:00 a.m. ET. Basically, the plan will charge banks a fee totaling around $5–$10 billion so mortgages not insured by Fannie and Freddie can be refinanced to lower rates, even if the borrower has a high loan-to-value ratio. Mortgage-backed securities are up this morning due to an unexpected drop in the consumer confidence report and a decline in U.S. business activity in January.

What’s Up on Wall Street?

It was another fairly quiet day for stocks yesterday, keeping the dramatic trend of barely budging north or south alive.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 20.81 points (0.16 percent) and extended its loss streak to four days and counting.  The Nasdaq Composite climbed a whopping 1.90 points (0.07 percent), and the S&P 500 dropped 0.60 points (0.05 percent) to extend its loss streak to four days.

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