Banks launch new mortgage products
FSA reveals fall in mortgage arrears cases
CML reveals mortgage lending improvements
Offset mortgages could be solution to low savings rates
Eliot Spitzer: Time for Truth: Three Card Monte Is for Suckers
We believe that the Valukas report cries out for an immediate Congressional investigation. As we did with A.I.G., we demand the release of the e-mails and internal documents from the New York Fed and Lehman executives.
Read more on The Huffington Post
O.C. February bankruptcies hit decade high
In February, 1,314 Orange County individuals and businesses filed for bankruptcy, up 35.9% from a year earlier and the highest number of February filings in the Santa Ana federal bankruptcy court this decade.
Read more on Orange County Register
Home repossessions rise by 15%
The number of people who lost their homes leapt by 15% during 2009, new figures have shown. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said 54,055 people had their properties repossessed during the year, up from 46,945 in 2008.
Read more on Channel 4
Natural Gas – A Small Example of Acceptable Fraud
I have been keeping an eye on natural gas and I love the way the chart looks right now for a trade. But trying to find a way to play it without going into the futures market exposes the problems with our current financial markets. The fraud is too prevalent and the instruments are too opaque.
Read more on GoldSeek.com
CPB warns of foreclosure scams
With the national foreclosure rate at an all-time high, the New York State Consumer Protection Board (CPB) is relaying an urgent message to New Yorkers: Be wary of financing scams!
Read more on Queens Courier
Statewide now is Home Bank
As of Friday, Statewide Bank is no more. Instead, through the financial institution conservatorship and receivership process, Home Bank of Lafayette has taken over the former Statewide.
Read more on St. Tammany News
Fed holds rates at record lows to foster recovery; view of economy slightly more upbeat
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve on Tuesday repeated its pledge to hold interest rates at record lows to foster the economic recovery and ease high unemployment.
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US stocks rise after Fed pledges to keep rates low
The Federal Reserve’s mildly upbeat take on the economy and its plans to hold interest rates low gave stocks a lift.
Read more on GMA News
Fed wants rates kept at record lows
The Federal Reserve on Tuesday repeated its pledge to hold interest rates at record lows to foster the economic recovery and ease high unemployment.
Read more on Ventura County Star
A look at the Fed’s January, March statements
A comparison of the Federal Reserve’s statement on the economy and its policy positions from its last meeting on Jan. 26-27 and the meeting Tuesday.
Read more on Seattle Times
Commercial Mortgage Debt Rallies as TALF Ending: Credit Markets
March 15 (Bloomberg) — Commercial mortgage-backed bond returns are accelerating as the Federal Reserve ends support for the $700 billion market, showing growing confidence that loan defaults won’t derail the economic recovery.
Read more on Bloomberg
Commercial Mortgage Debt Rallies as TALF Ending: Credit Markets
March 15 (Bloomberg) — Commercial mortgage-backed bond returns are accelerating as the Federal Reserve ends support for the $700 billion market, showing growing confidence that loan defaults won’t derail the economic recovery.
Read more on Bloomberg
Bowie man indicted in Lanham-based fraud scheme
A Bowie man was indicted March 9 by a federal grand jury for his role in a Lanham-based mortgage fraud scheme that duped homeowners who had been facing foreclosure and were promised help keeping their homes and repairing their damaged credit.
Read more on Largo Gazette
Commercial Mortgage Debt Rallies as TALF Ending: Credit Markets
March 15 (Bloomberg) — Commercial mortgage-backed bond returns are accelerating as the Federal Reserve ends support for the $700 billion market, showing growing confidence that loan defaults won’t derail the economic recovery.
Read more on Bloomberg
Stiglitz Says Fed Stimulus Withdrawal May Hurt U.S. Housing
March 17 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve’s decision to let its mortgage-debt purchase programs end this month risks driving up home-loan rates and worsening the housing crisis, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz said.
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Calif. politics has short sellers facing big bills
What should have been a legislative afterthought is threatening to become a financial purgatory for thousands of California taxpayers hit by the housing crisis.
Read more on KSWO Lawton-Wichita Falls
Wells Fargo signs up for program to modify second mortgages
NEW YORK — Wells Fargo on Wednesday became the second bank to sign up for a government program to modify second mortgages.
Read more on San Jose Mercury News
Fed holds rates at record lows to foster recovery
The Federal Reserve on Tuesday repeated its pledge to hold interest rates at record lows to foster the economic recovery and ease high unemployment.
Read more on Denver Post
Wells Fargo signs up for loan modification program
Wells Fargo & Co. has become the second bank to sign up for a government program to modify second mortgages.
Read more on KSWO Lawton-Wichita Falls
Fed Holds Rates at Record Lows, Again
Central Bank Vows to Hold Rates Down for “Extended Period,” says Job Market Stabilizing
Read more on CBS News
Calif. politics has short sellers facing big bills
What should have been a legislative afterthought is threatening to become a financial purgatory for thousands of California taxpayers hit by the housing crisis.
Read more on Seattle Times
China’s home prices ‘won’t drop too much’
China’s property prices won’t plunge this year, two of Hong Kong’s biggest developers with operations on the mainland said yesterday, as the World Bank joined economists and hedge fund managers warning of a bubble.
Read more on China Daily
Calif. politics has short sellers facing big bills
What should have been a legislative afterthought is threatening to become a financial purgatory for thousands of California taxpayers hit by the housing crisis.
Read more on Sify News
Calif. Politics Has Short Sellers Facing Big Bills
What should have been a legislative afterthought is threatening to become a financial purgatory for thousands of California taxpayers hit by the housing crisis.
Read more on CBS 13 Sacramento
BOJ Doubles Lending Program to Combat Deflation (Update1)
March 17 (Bloomberg) — The Bank of Japan doubled a lending program aimed at stoking credit growth after the government stepped up calls to arrest deflation that’s hampering the economic recovery.
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Treasury Yield Curve Narrows on Evidence Recovery Is Slowing
March 15 (Bloomberg) — The yield gap between 10-year Treasury notes and 2-year securities narrowed in the past week by the most this year before reports that economists said will show growth is slowing.
Read more on Bloomberg
‘Unforced errors’ cost M&T dearly over 3 years
M&T Bank Corp. saw its purchase of a $300 million stake in a small-dollar commercial real estate lender as a good move at the time, but its chief executive officer now calls its Bayview investment one of four “unforced errors” that ultimately cost the bank $845 million in losses over three years.
Read more on The Buffalo News
Plea deal rejected in loan scheme
ELLSWORTH, Maine — A Superior Court judge has rejected a plea agreement that would have put a former Surry man behind bars for 18 months for allegedly stealing more than half a million dollars from …
Read more on Bangor Daily News
Themes, variations grow SFL’s lodging industry
Lodging industry still growing despite tough economy When Myles Chefetz started building a small South Beach hotel next door to his popular Prime One Twelve steak house, where a rib eye costs $56, he figured the 14-room Prime Hotel would be worth about $12 million.
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Treasury Yield Curve Narrows on Evidence Recovery Is Slowing
March 15 (Bloomberg) — The yield gap between 10-year Treasury notes and 2-year securities narrowed in the past week by the most this year before reports that economists said will show growth is slowing.
Read more on Bloomberg