mother of all rallies, page-11

ARM stands for "adjustable rate mortgage". The rate is fixed for a period and then resets to the variable; when these mortgages rest the rates will jump.
In Australia all mortgages work like this but not in the USA.
The standard vanilla mortgage here is a 30 year fixed rate mortgage; most Americans have no idea how to handle a variable rate.
Oh and don't get jealous about Aussies missing out on 30yr fixed rate loans; they are totally inflexible. No redraw facility, no offset accounts, no portability. When you change houses you have to close the loan and get a new one. If the interest rates drop you have to close the loan and start over to get the new rate. Most people change houses, or the interest rate cycles every 5 - 7 years so in reality nobody really gets to lock in a rate for 30 years.