Fixed-mortgage rates dip after steady rise

1/6/2011

NEW YORK — Rates on fixed mortgages dipped after rising steadily over the last two months.

Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on 30-year mortgages dropped to 4.77 percent from 4.86 percent the previous week. It hit a 40-year low of 4.17 percent in November. The average rate on the 15-year loan slipped to 4.13 percent from 4.20 percent. It reached 3.57 percent in November, the lowest level on records starting in 1991. Rates have been rising since November.

Social networking site LinkedIn to go public

LinkedIn, the popular social networking site built around professional relationships, plans to go public this year and has hired banks to advise it on the process, people with direct knowledge of the matter said this week.

LinkedIn chose Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and JPMorgan Chase as three advisers, after a round of pitches held in early November, said one of these people, who requested anonymity because the process was confidential.

LinkedIn and its advisers are working on the documentation necessary for an initial offering and will most likely complete the prospectus by the end of the quarter, this person said.