News

Leading Democrat offers mortgage aid bill (Reuters)

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:29:25 GMT
Reuters - The second-ranking Democrat of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday introduced legislation that would let bankruptcy judges erase some mortgage debt in an effort to stem foreclosures.
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Madoff scandal, SEC role under scrutiny (AP)

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:55:42 GMT
Allan Goldstein, a retiree and investor with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, testifies before the House Committee on Financial Services, Monday, Jan. 5, 2009, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)AP - Two more months of mortgage payments and retiree Allan Goldstein says he'll be broke, just another victim in what may be the biggest Ponzi scheme in history.
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British house prices sink by record amount in 2008 (AP)

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:38:41 GMT
AP - House prices in Britain fell by their biggest annual amount in at least 56 years during 2008, as credit seized up and possible buyers stayed out of the market, a leading mortgage lender said Tuesday.
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NY Fed begins purchasing mortgage securities (AP)

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:58:47 GMT
AP - The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Monday it has begun purchasing mortgage-backed securities in an effort to bolster the battered housing market.
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Estate Planning in a Down Market (BusinessWeek Online)

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 13:08:41 GMT
BusinessWeek Online - When times are tough, people tend to hold on to what they have that much more tightly. But for those who can get beyond that psychological response, there's a silver lining in today's combination of depressed asset values and low interest rates: Transferring assets to the next generation has rarely been less costly.
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Private equity group buying IndyMac assets (Reuters)

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 00:47:51 GMT
A logo on the IndyMac Bank corporate headquarters building is seen in Pasadena, California July 8, 2008. (Danny Moloshok/Reuters)Reuters - The assets of failed U.S. mortgage lender IndyMac are being bought by a group of private equity and hedge fund firms, including Dune Capital Management and J.C. Flowers & Co, which are putting up $1.3 billion in cash.
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Plan B for retirees who counted on home equity (AP)

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 19:01:12 GMT
AP - The safety net is almost gone, the nest egg is cracking.
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FDIC says it will sell IndyMac (Reuters)

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:46:41 GMT
An IndyMac Bank branch is seen in Glendale, California July 17, 2008. (Phil McCarten/Reuters)Reuters - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, in a statement on its Website, says it signed a letter of intent to sell Indymac Federal bank operations to thrift holding company controlled by IMB Management Holdings LP.
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British house prices fell at record rate in 2008 (AP)

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:48:55 GMT
AP - House prices in Britain fell in 2008 at their fastest rate for at least 25 years, the country's biggest mortgage lender said Friday, stoking market expectations that the Bank of England will cut borrowing costs further next week.
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Standout 2008 fund managers staying defensive (AP)

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:38:25 GMT
Graphic shows the best- and worst-performing mutual funds of the year; 3 c x 4 5/8 in; 146 mm x 117.475 mmAP - Playing it safe paid off in 2008 for Tom Forester and David Ellison, two standout mutual fund managers in a year when winning meant losing less money than the competition.
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Wells Fargo completes Wachovia purchase (Reuters)

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 13:16:57 GMT
Pedestrians walk outside Wachovia corporate headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, October 22, 2008. (Chris Keane/Reuters)Reuters - Wells Fargo & Co said it has completed its roughly $12.7 billion purchase of Wachovia Corp, a big bet that it properly assessed the risks in Wachovia's huge book of mortgage and real estate loans.
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Street looks to '09 with relief after terrible '08 (AP)

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 01:05:19 GMT
Igor Lerner, left, and Dilip Patel, both specialist traders for Bear Wagner, work from their post during early activity on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday Dec. 31, 2008. Wall Street showed a modest advance in the final session of a dreadful year as investors took some comfort from a sharp drop. (AP Photos/Bebeto Matthews)AP - The last trading day of 2008 on Wall Street provided a merciful end to an abysmal year ? the worst since the Great Depression, wiping out $6.9 trillion in stock market wealth. Six years of stock gains disappeared as the economy crumbled and markets crashed around the globe, shaking the confidence of professional and individual investors alike.
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Mortgage rates fall to third straight record low (AP)

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:27:08 GMT
A man walks on an overpass Jianguo Road near office buildings in Beijing's central business district, January 6, 2009. Delinquency rates on Chinese banks' property loans remain low, especially for residential mortgages, in spite of a downturn in the real estate market, a central bank official said on Tuesday. Banks had extended 2.95 trillion yuan ($432 billion) in home loans by the end of November, up 10.6 percent from a year earlier and accounting for about 10 percent of their local currency lending, Huo Yingli, a deputy director in the financial market department of the People's Bank of China, told a news conference. REUTERS/Jason Lee (CHINA)AP - Rates on 30-year mortgages fell to a record low for the third straight week and borrowers took advantage of the drop, sending new applications soaring.
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Revisiting a Classic: 'Your Money or Your Life' (AP)

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:20:07 GMT
In this photo provided by Penguin Publishing, Vicki Robin, author of 'Your Money or Your Life,' is shown. (AP Photo/Penguin Publishing, Rich Frishman)AP - There are countless personal finance books that advise readers on budgeting, investing and paying down debt. Few leave the tips aside and ask you to question your relationship with money and the reasons you spend what you do.
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Mortgage crisis spurs tougher rules for brokers (AP)

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:11:45 GMT
Shirley Webster, president of the Greater Citizens Coalition of Martindale-Brightwood, tours the Brightwood neighborhood on the near north side of Indianapolis, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008. The area has a problem with vacant homes, many of the homes have been stripped of their pipes and the home pose a danger to the students in a nearby elementary school. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)AP - Becoming a mortgage broker in Indiana used to be easy. Too easy.
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Mortgage rates drop to 37-year low (Reuters)

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:47:46 GMT
Reuters - Interest rates on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped for a ninth consecutive week, reaching their lowest level in 37 years, according to a survey released on Wednesday by home funding company Freddie Mac.
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Jobless claims dive while mortgage rates ease again (Reuters)

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:38:32 GMT
A broken 'For Sale' sign is seen outside a home in the Queens borough of New York, November 21, 2008. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. weekly jobless claims plummeted last week but the improvement was probably a seasonal quirk rather than a turning point for the recession-ravaged labor market.
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Mortgage applications remain at 5-year highs (AP)

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:44:31 GMT
A man walks on an overpass Jianguo Road near office buildings in Beijing's central business district, January 6, 2009. Delinquency rates on Chinese banks' property loans remain low, especially for residential mortgages, in spite of a downturn in the real estate market, a central bank official said on Tuesday. Banks had extended 2.95 trillion yuan ($432 billion) in home loans by the end of November, up 10.6 percent from a year earlier and accounting for about 10 percent of their local currency lending, Huo Yingli, a deputy director in the financial market department of the People's Bank of China, told a news conference. REUTERS/Jason Lee (CHINA)AP - Mortgage applications remained at their highest level in more than five years last week, as borrowers took advantage of attractive rates and rushed to refinance their home loans.
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Wall St closes out worst year since Depression (Reuters)

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 22:49:58 GMT
Trader Robert Vella makes an entry in his portable computer on an almost empty trading floor after the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, December 31, 2008. (Ray Stubblebine/Reuters)Reuters - Wall Street closed out its worst year since the Great Depression on Wednesday after an unstoppable credit crisis and a dreadful economic outlook left investors questioning their faith in stock markets.
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Mortgages: What You Need to Know in 2009 (BusinessWeek Online)

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:08:41 GMT
BusinessWeek Online - With all the doom and gloom over housing, you might be surprised to know that this is a fantastic time to get a mortgage. Not if you have poor credit, to be sure. But you can get a great deal on a 30-year, fixed-rate, conforming loan these days if you have a solid FICO score, a manageable debt burden, and proof positive of a reliable income.
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