Halloween is a great time to let your imagination take flight! Spin up some scary stories, dress up and have fun with your neighbors, family and friends. Here are some safety tips from https://www.safekids.org/tip/halloween-safety-tips on how to keep your kids safe this year.

Halloween Safety TipsWalk Safely

1. Cross the street at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks.
2. Look left, right and left again when crossing and keep looking as you cross. 
3. Put electronic devices down and keep heads up and walk, don’t run, across the street.
4. Teach children to make eye contact with drivers before crossing in front of them.
5. Always walk on sidewalks or paths. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far to
   the left as possible.  Children should walk on direct routes with the fewest street crossings.
6. Watch for cars that are turning or backing up. Teach children to never dart out into the street or cross between parked cars.

Trick or Treat With an Adult

1. Children under the age of 12 should not be alone at night without adult supervision. If kids are mature enough to be out without supervision, they should stick to familiar areas that are well lit and trick-or-treat in groups.

Keep Costumes Both Creative and Safe

1. Decorate costumes and bags with reflective tape or stickers and, if possible, choose light colors.
2. Choose face paint and makeup whenever possible instead of masks, which can obstruct a child’s vision.
3. Have kids carry glow sticks or flashlights to help them see and be seen by drivers. 
4. When selecting a costume, make sure it is the right size to prevent trips and falls. 

Drive Extra Safely on Halloween

1. Slow down and be especially alert in residential neighborhoods. Children are excited on Halloween and may move in unpredictable ways.
2. Take extra time to look for kids at intersections, on medians and on curbs.
3. Enter and exit driveways and alleys slowly and carefully.
4. Eliminate any distractions inside your car so you can concentrate on the road and your surroundings.
5. Drive slowly, anticipate heavy pedestrian traffic and turn your headlights on earlier in the day to spot children from greater distances.
6. Popular trick-or-treating hours are 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. so be especially alert for kids during those hours.
   

U.S. Veterans can qualify for loans up to $1M - and making these loans happen is a lot easier than you might think. VA helps Service members, Veterans, and eligible surviving spouses become homeowners. As part of our mission to serve you, we provide a home loan guaranty benefit and other housing-related programs to help you buy or refinance  a home for your own personal occupancy.

VA Home Loans are provided by private lenders, such as banks and mortgage companies. VA guarantees a portion of the loan, enabling the lender to provide you with more favorable terms.

VA loans don't involve a lot of bureaucracy and red tape. And they typically close in the same amount of time as their Conventional counterparts.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

• $1M loan max
• 580 min. FICO
• Primary only, 1-4 Units, Condo (VA-approved), PUD
• 100% max. Loan to Value, excluding financed funding fee
• IRRRL
• Down Payment Programs eligible
• First-time homebuyers
  

* Purchases and Rate/Term refinances on primary residences up to $1.5 million with a 85% LTV, 740 credit score and no MI requirements.

 * Purchase and Rate/Term refinance loan amounts to $3 million on primary residences.
 
* Cash-out refinances up to 70% LTV for primary residences.
 
* Purchases on second homes up to $1 million with a 80% LTV and 720 credit score.
 
* Rate/Term refinances on second homes available up to 80% LTV.

 * For Purchases: One full URAR appraisal required for loan amounts <= $2 million.
 
* For Refinances: One full URAR appraisal required for loan amounts = $1.5 million.
 
* Available for self-employed borrowers.
 
* Owner-occupied primary residences (1-2 unit), second homes (1 unit) and warrantable Condos/ PUDs.

 * The minimum loan amount is $417,001. Loan amounts between conforming loan limits and agency high balance are eligible.

Interest rates continue to climb; yesterday the 10 yr increased 5 more basis points to 1.77%, this morning in early trading up another 3 bps to 1.80%. Mortgage rates increased 10 bps in rate since last Friday. Since the end of Sept the 10 has increased from its low at 1.52%, a big increase in rates as we noted was coming. Mortgage interest rates up 16 bps in that time.
 Stocks took a hit yesterday on increasing interest rates and increasing belief the Fed will increase the FF rate at its Dec meeting. Alcoa, the first to report Q3 earnings, disappointed and didn’t meet forecasts.  Trading in the FF funds futures market have a 63% probability on a Dec rate hike. Not a done deal by any means however; the betting on a rate hike is highly volatile and moves on any news or comments. 

This morning the weekly MBA mortgage applications declined as would be expected with the recent increase in rates. Apps declined 6.0%, purchases down 3.0% re-finances dropped 8.0%. The re-finance business is going to slow as rates increase. Comparable to a week a year ago, however, unadjusted purchase applications were 27% higher, a sharp reversal of the 14% year-on-year decline seen in the prior week. At 62.8 percent, the refinancing share of mortgage activity was 1.4 percentage points smaller than in the previous week. A bounce up in mortgage rates from historical lows most likely gave both buyers and refinancers reason to pause. The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate conforming mortgages ($417,000 or less) rose 6 basis points to 3.68%.
 
At 11:30 am Treasury will auction $24B of 3 yr notes. At 1:00 pm $20B of 10 yr notes (the 10 a re-opening of the note issued in August). The demand after the recent increase in rates for the 10 yr will be closely watched. If demand is weak in comparison to recent 10 yr auctions it will add more push to higher rates; a strong demand should support the market and may improve the very near term outlook.

 At 2:00 pm this afternoon the FOMC minutes from the Sept meeting will be released; at the meeting there were three dissenters that wanted an increase at the meeting, the most that voted against the majority since 2014. The minutes may provide more detail and always gets media attention, but since Yellen held a press conference after the meeting and took questions the minutes may not hold any surprises. 

 At 9:30 the key indexes opened unchanged (DJIA +1, NASDAQ +1, S&P +2). 10 yr note rate 1.70% +2 bp. FNMA 3.0 30 yr coupon -5 bps frm yesterday’s close. 

 OPEC and Russia talking about a cut in production the last week. We don’t expect it to happen as we have noted. This morning  OPEC reported an increase in its oil production in September to the highest in at least eight years and raised its forecast for 2017 non-OPEC supply growth, pointing to a larger surplus next year despite the group's deal to cut output. OPEC's report is the latest to show output is hitting new peaks. The September figure is the highest since at least 2008, according to a Reuters review of past OPEC reports. Crude trading lower this morning ahead of the 10:30 release of weekly inventories. 

 There is no way to sugar coat the rate markets now. Technicals bearish, the fundamentals bearish. Markets worry about a rate increase in Dec, the unprecedented coming election, and concerns about the exit of Briton coming soon. 

Stocks have been on a roll this year. Despite all of the global shocks and upcoming U.S. elections, stocks are still hovering near their all-time high levels.

The stock markets seem to be on an eerie pause before the November elections. The jobs reports have been falling short of estimates and casting shadows on the case for a rate hike later this year. During September, the economy added 156,000 job while economists had been looking for an increase of 168,000. The six month average, furthermore, slowed to 169,000, the weakest since November 2012. This was the 72nd month of positive job creation in the U.S., but the pace has slowed. From near 250,000 at the end of last year, the trend in job creation has subsided to around 200,000 in the early months of 2016 before falling below 170,000 as of late. Continued improvement in the labor market was at the forefront of the Fed’s latest talking points, suggesting the possibility of a year-end rate hike. Any further loss of momentum in hiring at this point, not to mention weaker-than-expected topline growth as we await the Q3 GDP, or a further decline in inflation, will make it more difficult for the Committee to adjust policy anytime soon.

The Brexit vote is now haunting the British Pound. As of now, the British currency has lost 17 percent versus the dollar this year and is now pegged at 1.23 dollars per pound. The pound is at the bottom of the 16 major peers this year. Many economists, however, believe that this is a good thing. Despite the shock of Brexit, there are few tangible signs of economic distress in Britain as the stocks and bond markets are strong. The employment situation and consumer spending are also steady. Economists believe that the decline of the British pound has acted as a giant shock absorber on the road to Brexit. Britain may be able to boost tourism and also exports, although at a higher tariff, to Europe.

After a damp employment report last Friday, this week is quieter in terms of data releases as the market is still digesting the jobs report. The market moving indicators this week include the FOMC minutes on Wednesday, Jobless Claims on Thursday and Retail Sales and Consumer Sentiments on Friday.

*Update provide by NYCB Bank