FOMC Cuts Target by 25 Bps to 2.00%, Says Economic Activity “Remains Weak”

The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it cut the Fed funds target rate by 25 basis points to bring the key interest rate to 2.00%. The discount rate was also cut by 25 basis points to 2.25%. In an accompanying statement, the Fed said "substantial" easing should promote growth, but ...

Inflation Fears Cast Shadow on Mortgage Rates and Applications Decline

Fears of inflation pushed mortgage rates higher according to the results of Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ended April 24. The Survey reported that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.03 percent with 0.3 point compared to 5.88 percent with 0.4 point the week before. Mortgage application volume ...

Zillow, Always Creative, Puts a New Twist on Mortgage Lead Generation

Zillow has just inaugurated another aspect to its real estate services portfolio. Now Zillow has turned the lead generation industry on its head. Calling its service the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace, Zillow offers borrowers the opportunity to receive multiple free quotes without submitting sensitive financial information on the site and for lenders to ...

Pimco’s Gross Warns that Further U.S. Housing Declines Could Be “Ruinous”

Housing price declines remain the greatest challenge to financial markets and could prompt a deep recession, according to Pimco's Bill Gross. "Home prices which have fallen by 10% over the past 12 months and are set for a repeat by this time in 2009. Lower Fed Funds? They would, in Pimco's ...

Another Loss for Countrywide as Bank of America Plans for Future

Countrywide Financial Corporation logged in on Tuesday with its third consecutive quarterly loss due to a sharp increase it its provision for loan losses. On Tuesday the Nashville Business Journal reported that Bank of America is planning to modify or otherwise work out some 265,000 Countrywide loans, allowing those customers to ...

No Need for Second Stimulus Package

Speaking in an interview with Fox Business news on Monday evening, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he did not believe that a second fiscal stimulus package was necessary and that the tax rebates mailed out yesterday would make a real difference to GDP. Read More Now

Consumer Confidence Falls Less Than Expected in April

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to 62.3 in April's report on Tuesday, confirming declines seen earlier in the month from other measures of consumer sentiment, yet coming in slightly higher than the consensus expectation of 62.0. The previous month's reading of 64.0 was revised upwards to 65.9. Following a 35-year ...

Home Prices Slide in February

The S&P Case-Shiller home price index continued its sharp decline in February as both the 10-city and 20-city composite indexes posted record annual declines in excess of 12.5%. The weakest markets over the past year have been Las Vegas and Miami, which have fallen by 22.8% and 21.7%, respectively. Jacqui Douglas, economic ...

Treasury Undersecretary Steel Sees Good Progress in Economic Recovery, Housing

Progress on the U.S. economic slowdown and housing sector have been encouraging, according to U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Robert Steel, speaking to Society of American Business Editors and Writers Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. Read More Now

First Quarter Vacancy Rates Rise

National vacancy rates in the first quarter of 2008 were 10.1% for rental housing, up from 9.6% in the fourth quarter of 2007, and 2.9% for homeowner housing this quarter, compared to 2.8% in the previous quarter, according to a report from the Census Bureau on Monday. Read More ...

Wachovia Settles One Suit, Confronts Money Laundering Charges

Wachovia Corporation, the rising Charlotte North Carolina banking star is having a very bad April. On April 14 the bank announced it had lost $350 million or $0.20 per share during the first quarter of 2008. Then this past Friday Wachovia got hit with a double whammy. In the morning it was announced ...

U.S. M1 and M2 Money Supplies Fall in Week Ending April 14

M1 Money Supply fell $2.4 billion in the week ending April 14, while M2 fell $15 billion, according to figures released from the Federal Reserve Thursday. The Fed's Treasury holdings... Read More Now

U.S. New Homes Sales Plummet 8.5% in March to Lowest Level Since 1991

New home sales in the U.S. were down for the fifth consecutive month in March, falling by 8.5% to 526k, much lower than the 580k level expected by economists, and setting a new low since October 1991. Inventories soared from already-worrying levels. Regionally, new home sales fell across the board... ...

Fed May Take “Breather” After Cut Next Week

Expectations for a pause in U.S. monetary policy were bolstered by an article in Thursday's Wall Street Journal, where noted Fed watcher Greg Ip said, "The Federal Reserve is likely to cut its short-term interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point next week -- but then may be ...

Preview: Further Deterioration Expected in New Home Sales

As the overhang of new homes sits at a 27-year high of 9.8 months, new home sales are expected to fall for a fifth consecutive month in the March index from the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday. In February's report, sales fell 1.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 590K, ...

Mortgages Rates, Loan Applications Remain Mostly in Doldrums

Long term mortgage interest rates as reported by Freddie Mac in its Primary Mortgage Market Survey were virtually unchanged during the week which ended April 17. However, long term rates as reported by the Mortgage Bankers Association in their Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ended April 18 underwent ...

Home Prices Rose 0.6% in February, OFHEO Reports

U.S. house prices rose 0.6% in February following January's 1.1% decline, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) reported Tuesday. Economists had expected a monthly decline of 1.5%. In the previous month, U.S. home prices fell 1.1% between December 2007 and January 2008, contributing to a 12-month decline of 3.0%. For ...

Existing Home Sales Decline 2.0% in March

Existing home sales fell more than expected in March, falling 2.0% to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 4.93 million units, largely retracing the surprising 2.9% gain in the previous month to 5.03 million units, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Tuesday. Economists were expecting the March data to deteriorate ...

Preview: OFHEO Purchase-Only House Price Index to Decline in February

The new monthly OFHEO purchase-only home price index is expected to fall 1.5% in February, following a 1.1% decline in the January report. The purchase-only index, based on data from home sales, was introduced in OFHEO's fourth quarter 2007 House Price Index (HPI) report, and provides home price conditions for the ...

Existing Home Sales to Fall Below 5 Million in March

The existing home sales index for March is expected to fall 1.6% to a pace of 4.93 million units, following a surprising 2.9% gain to a pace of 5.03 million in the previous month. February's advance halted a six-month trend of declining sales and was well-above expectations, but sales were still ...

Former Fannie Mae Execs Consent to Multi-Million Dollar Penalties

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has reached a notable settlement with three of Fannie Mae's former executives. The settlement, announced late Friday, will end enforcement actions against the three officers arising out of accounting and internal control problems at the two government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) in 2004. The Consent ...

The Week Ahead: U.S. Housing Sales

Economists will be paying attention to this month's U.S. housing data in hopes of finding a bottom in the market. Before that, however, the focus will be in Canada on the Bank of Canada's interest rate decision. Economists aren't expecting much improvement in the U.S. housing industry as the sector continues ...

Citigroup Announces $5.1 Billion Loss in First Quarter

In the strange thinking that passes for logic on Wall Street, shares of Citigroup stock were expected to surge today after the company announced yet another huge quarterly loss. In fact, shortly after the announcement, the stock was up 7 percent in pre-open trading. The big bank lost $5.1 billion ($1.02 ...

Housing Slump May Affect More Banks, Says Rosengren

Speaking at a credit conference in Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren addressed the current housing price slump in the U.S., saying that it may continue affecting even more banks. In a panel discussion with Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker, Rosengren pointed to a lack of an ...

Vacation and Investment Property Sales Strong Despite Market Troubles

Hundreds of thousands of American homeowners may be in desperate straits, facing crippling rate resets or worse, foreclosure, but others continued to purchase vacation homes and investment properties at a healthy rate. Vacation homes were most popular in the South where ... Read More Now

NAHB Calls for Secondary Market for Construction Loans

Home builders, who have been feeling the squeeze on the selling side of their business for months, are now reporting that they are caught in a crunch on the development side as money for land acquisition, development, and home construction is drying up. Mitchell told the senators that there is no ...

Treasury Curve Steepens as Fed Cuts Priced Out

Inflation worries sparked a front-end led selloff in Treasuries on Thursday as market participants increasingly believe the Federal Reserve will only cut rates by a quarter-point at the end of the month. Read More Now

Fed to Make New Credit Card Proposal, Says Braunstein

Speaking Thursday before the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, Federal Reserve Division of Consumer and Community Affairs Director Sandra Braunstein emphasized a need for further consumer protection as it would pertain to credit cards. Read More Now

Merrill Lynch Reports First-Quarter Loss, Planned Job Cuts

Merrill Lynch & Company will eliminate 2,900 jobs as it struggles to recover from its third consecutive quarterly loss which it announced on Thursday. The company said it was taking $6.6 billion in write- downs related to mortgages, collateralized debt obligations and generally badly underwritten commercial loans... Read More Now

U.S. Initial Claims Rise 17k to 372k, Continuing Claims Gain

U.S. initial jobless claims came in lower than expected in the week ending April 12 with a total of 372K seasonally adjusted claims filed, representing a 4.8% rise from the week before, the Department of Labor reported Thursday. Forecasts were looking for a total of 375k claims. The previous week's ...

Renters also May Not Find Decent and Affordable Housing

If the several million people facing foreclosure over the next few years actually lose their homes, where are they going to go? The conventional wisdom is that they will go back into the rental market and perhaps that is one reason for the jump in permits and housing starts for ...

Fed’s Fisher Maintains “Strong Reluctance” About Further Rate Cuts

Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher, one of two Fed dissenters in the last FOMC rate cut decision, said he has a "strong reluctance" about further rate cuts. Speaking at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Fisher warned against "inflating our way" out of the credit crisis and that further cuts may ...

Another Bad Month for Census Report on Permits, Housing Starts

Housing starts and the issuing of construction permits continued to fall in March. Permits for building privately-owned housing units were issued at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 927,000, 5.8 percent lower than the revised February pace of 984,000 and 40.9 percent below the March 2007 estimate of 1,569,000. ...

Mortgage Rates, Application Volume Show Little Movement for Week

Mortgages rates, which were drifting during the week ended April 3 were virtually frozen during the week ending April 10 according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was unchanged at 5.88 percent although fees and points were down to 0.4 from 0.5. Loan applications increased 2.5 ...

U.S. Fed’s Beige Book Reports Economic Conditions Weakened Since February

Economic conditions across the United States have slowed since February, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book noted, as nine of the 12 districts report slowing economic activity. The report noted consumer spending is "softening" across much of the U.S. while residential construction is "generally anemic." "Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve districts indicate ...

U.S. Regional Banks Favoured Less Action Prior to Bear Stearns Rescue

The Federal Reserve offered no explanation for the quarter-point cut in the discount rate on the day of the near-collapse of Bear Stearns in minutes of the March 16 meeting. The minutes, released Tuesday, said Fed regional banks... Read More Now

OFHEO Says Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Made Considerable Progress

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have made considerable progress towards achieving financial stability, but more progress needs to be made, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's annual report to Congress released on Tuesday. Read More Now

NAHB Housing Market Index Unchanged From March and February

A report from Wells Fargo and the National Association of Home Builders suggests the housing market was little changed from March to April, with their headline index coming in once again at a reading of 20, in line with the consensus. Read More Now

PPI Rises More than Expected, Up 1.1% in March

The U.S. Labor Department's headline measure of producer price inflation grew at 1.1% in March, up from February's 0.3% gain and higher than forecasts for a 0.6% gain. The core measure of producer price inflation, which excludes cost increases in food and energy, edged up by 0.2%, in line with ...

Tuesday’s Events: U.S. PPI, Empire Fed Mfg, NAHB Housing Market Index

The United States will hold most of the economic spotlight on Tuesday morning with the release of March's producer price index along with the Empire Fed's manufacturing and the NAHB's housing price indexes, both for April. Markets will also hear some comments from the U.S. Treasury while the Bank of ...

Market Recovery to Take Time, Says Fed’s Warsh

Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh (voter) said rate cuts and liquidity injections are working to partially offset the impact of the current market turmoil, but cautioned that there are limits to what the Fed's monetary policy can accomplish and that a full recovery is going to take some time. While speaking ...

Bear Stearns Snatches Last-Gasp First Quarter Profit, Faces Multiple Probes

In spite of it all, the "it" being the stunning speed with which Bear Stearns hit rock bottom last month and the midnight ride rescue of the investment bank by J.P. Morgan Chase, Bear Stearns is still reporting a profitable first quarter. There is also a civil investigation by the Federal ...

Wachovia Announces Losses and Capital Acquisition

Wachovia has joined the parade of commercial and investment banks announcing first quarter losses and an intent to raise capital to carry it through the looming months of credit reversals. The company's problems began when it purchased Golden West a California bank and mortgage lender for $25.5 billion two years ago. ...

Upside Surprise to U.S. Retail Sales Fails to Spur Optimism Among Economists

Monday's release of better-than-expected U.S. retail sales data for March did little to sway economists' views of deteriorating consumer spending and possibility a recessionary U.S. economy. Read More Now

FHA Head Touts Expansion of FHASecure Program Over Proposed Legislation

As reported by The New York Times earlier in the week, the FHA is confronted with the possibility of the first deficit in its 74 year history primarily because of a single program in which sellers, with the assistance of one of several non-profit organizations, fund the buyer's downpayment. This ...

Central Bank Watch: Week Saw Plenty of Rate Decisions but Few Surprises

This past week that saw three of the world's major central banks release interest rate decisions, all of which were in line with what markets had been expecting. The Bank of Japan and European Central Bank both held rates steady while the Bank of England eased by 25 bps to ...

U.S. Consumer Sentiment Falls Further in April

According to preliminary data from Reuters and the University of Michigan, U.S. consumer sentiment fell sharply from March's final 69.5 to a score of 63.2, the lowest level since March 1982 when the index stood at 62.2. Economists had been expecting a deterioration to 69.0. "The consensus forecast was always way too ...

Fed to Examine Rules on Capital and Liquidity to Insulate Against Market Shocks

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Federal Reserve will examine guidance on capital and liquidity and that new regulations should insulate against financial market shocks. While he said it is difficult to make rule changes during periods of economic crisis, Bernanke said the markets right now can't wait. Bernanke said he also ...

U.S. Jobless Claims Down from Spike, but Trend is Still Up, Economists Say

First-time claims for jobless benefits in the United States declined after hitting a two-and-a-half year high last week, the Department of Labor reported Thursday. U.S. initial jobless claims came in lower-than-expected in the week ending April 5. A total of 357K initial jobless claims were filed; forecasts were looking for a ...

Treasury Secretary Paulson Says Economy “Has Turned Down Sharply”

The U.S. economy "has turned down sharply" according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, speaking to the Council of Institutional Investors in Washington, D.C. on Thursday morning. He said the greatest risk to the economy was the housing sector. However, Paulson noted some positive developments recently, particularly in the Hope Now ...

Fed’s Fisher Says Rate Cuts Not Fully Passed on to Borrowers

Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher said the rate cuts delivered by the Federal Reserve have not been fully passed on to borrowers during a speech in San Antonio, Texas. Fisher said "breakdowns" in regulation contributed to the current crisis and that the economy continues to suffer from a "bout of anemia." "The ...

Capitol Hill Deals with Housing Problems in Several Venues

Meanwhile, with the White House, the Federal Reserve, and Congress including the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) as a lynchpin in their various housing rescue plans, The New York Times is reporting that agency is itself on shaky financial grounds. According to The Times the loans, issued under the seller-financed down payment ...

MBA Mortgage Applications Rebound in First Week of April

Weekly mortgage applications in the United States rebounded Wednesday morning according to data from the Mortgage Bankers' Association, which said applications rose 5.4% in the week ending April 4.

Fed’s Kroszner Says Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Should Increase Capital

Testifying before the House Financial Services Panel on Wednesday, he said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need to increase their capital and that he supports legislation on the two mortgage insurers and the Federal Housing Administration. Read More Now

Mortgage Rates Drift During Most Recent Survey Week

Long-term interest rates were generally slightly higher during the week ended April 3, while short-term, variable rates drifted a bit lower. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ended April 4 on Wednesday morning. Read More Now

Pending Home Sales Fail to Indicate Housing Bottom

U.S. pending home sales surprised to the downside on Tuesday morning, declining 1.9% month-over-month despite calls for a 1.0% pullback in February. January's figure was revised to a gain of 0.3%. Leading the declines were pending home sales in the Midwest, which pulled back... Read More Now

Total Losses from Mortgage Meltdown Could Reach $945 Billion

According to a report released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday morning, total losses from the subprime meltdown could reach up to $945 billion on the back of fears of a deeper, more protracted crisis. "The risks to financial stability remain elevated... Read More Now

More Rate Cuts Could Be Necessary from the Fed, Says IMF

The International Monetary Fund said in a World Economic Outlook report that more rate cuts could be necessary from the U.S. Federal Reserve. The IMF revised down growth expectations for the U.S. in 2008 to 0.5% from 1.5% forecast in January. For 2009, U.S. growth is expected at 0.6%. "The effects of ...

WaMu Job Cuts and Closings

On Monday it was rumored that a struggling Washington Mutual (WaMu) would be getting a cash infusion of $5 billion from a private equity firm to help it weather the subprime mortgage storm. On Tuesday that amount had morphed to $7 billion in additional capital from the sale of company ...

Some FOMC Members Saw Risk of “Prolonged and Severe” Downturn, Minutes Show

Minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's March 18 meeting revealed several members saw a risk of a "prolonged and severe" downturn and that there had been "little indication" of stabilization in the U.S. housing market. Officials had concerns that price expectations might loosen and had discussed evidence of an ...

Boston Fed’s Rosengren Surprised Housing Market Hasn’t Bounced

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren expressed surprise that the U.S. housing market had not begun to show signs of recovery as of yet. Read More Now

Consumer Credit Rises Short of Forecasts in February

Surprising to the downside, seasonally adjusted U.S. consumer debt rose $5.2 billion in February, according to data released Monday from the U.S. Federal Reserve, which also showed total consumer credit rose to $2,539.7 trillion. Read More Now

Experts Divided on Pending Home Sales Despite Consensus for Decline

Despite an unchanged reading in U.S. pending home sales in January, the consensus forecast is looking for a 1.0% month-over-month decline in the National Association of Realtors' February release on Tuesday. However, economists are far from unanimous in their calls... Read More Now

Fed Minutes to be Scrutinized Tomorrow

When released Tuesday, the minutes from the FOMC's March 18 meeting are likely to be scrutinized for indications of the Fed's economic outlook at the time of its last 75 basis point cut, as well the degree of divergence amongst committee members, economists say. "The usual suspects including credit dislocation, the ...

Public Intervention Needed to Tackle Credit Crunch

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Fed Announces Details of Next in Series of Liquidity Auctions

The Federal Reserve will hold its next $50 billion Term Auction Facility auction of short-term liquidity Monday morning, and announce the results Tuesday, the Fed announced Monday. Read More Now

The Week Ahead: April 7 - 11, 2008

The focus this week will be on Tuesday when minutes from the March 18 FOMC meeting, when the Fed cut interest rates by 75 bps, are released. Monday: 8:30 CA Building Permits (M/M) FEB Exp: +1.3% Prior: -2.9% 9:30 US Treasury's Paulson to Speak at IADB Meeting in Miami Beach ...

Greenspan Sees an Over-50% Chance of U.S. Recession

Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Spain's El Pais newspaper on Sunday that chances of the U.S. economy slipping into a recession were now above 50% but the world's leading economy had not yet entered one. Greenspan said, "In my opinion... Read More Now

U.S. Investment Banks Borrow $10 Billion from Fed Discount Window

Under the Fed's new primary dealer credit facility, investment banks borrowed $10.341 billion from the discount window for the week ending April 2, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday. Also, $92.658 billion was borrowed by dealers under the Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF). Read More Now

Unemployment Up to 5.1%

U.S. nonfarm payrolls fell for the third consecutive month, with the U.S. Labor Department reporting that the U.S. lost 80k jobs in March. The unemployment rate rose to 5.1% in March, higher than the expected 5.0% and above the previous rate of 4.8%. Read More Now

Senator Obama Lays out Housing Policy

The third candidate to outline his plans for ending the housing market meltdown was Senator Barack Obama. Speaking at Cooper Union in New York recently the senator addressed the need for tightening regulations and reforming the financial regulatory system as well as presenting a proposal for a second economic stimulus ...

Fed’s Yellen Says Economic Growth Likely to Be Sluggish in 2008

U.S. economic growth is likely to be sluggish in 2008, dragged down by an ailing housing sector that is not likely to recover in the near future, said head of the San Francisco Fed Janet Yellen (non- voter) on Thursday evening. However, the Fed will continue to act in a "firm ...

Federal Reserve Conducts $25 Billion TSLF Auction

The Federal Reserve conducted a second auction under its Term Security Lending Facility (TSLF) Thursday, auctioning $25 billion in short-term securities, though interest in the auction exceeded the offering with almost $47 billion in submissions. A total of $46.9 billion in bids was submitted for a bid-to-cover ratio of 1.88. The ...

Fears of Bear Stearns Bankruptcy Fallout Prompted Fed Plan, Says Geithner

Fears that the bankruptcy of Bear Stearns would cause widespread uncertainty about the financial conditions of other global investment banks and further deepen the credit crunch prompted Federal Reserve officials to engineer the company's rescue plan, New York Fed Bank President Timothy Geithner said. Geithner outlined the events leading up to ...

Mortgage Rates Relatively Static While Application Volume Continues Down

Mortgage rates were largely unchanged during the week ended March 27 according to the Primary Mortgage Market Survey conducted by Freddie Mac. Mortgage application volume was down 28.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from a week earlier... Read More Now

Fannie Mae Tightens Loan Criteria for Credit Scores

"As Fannie Mae has expanded its mortgage guaranty business to serve the market's urgent need for stability, liquidity and affordability, the company has undertaken a series of steps to protect borrowers, manage the increased credit risk in the market, and fortify the company's capital position. Among these steps, our company ...

Senate ad hoc Committee Hammers out Housing Rescue Bill

With what surely passes as warp-speed on Capitol Hill, the Senate on Wednesday afternoon reached tentative bi-partisan accord on a wide- ranging housing bill. On Tuesday afternoon the Senate voted 94-1 to move forward on legislation to help homeowners facing foreclosure. If the legislation is adopted there will be a ...

Fed’s Bernanke Defends Bear Sterns Rescue, ‘Chaotic Unwinding’ Avoided

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the U.S. central bank's action to provide funding to Bear Stearns, saying Bear's failure would have led to "a chaotic unwinding" in financial markets that would have impacted the real economy. Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee, Bernanke said Thursday a default by Bear Stearns ...

Hope Now’s Successes May be Over Rated

According to a story written by Lynnley Browning in Wednesday's New York Times, Hope Now, the White House's initial answer to the country's mounting foreclosures, is failing to provide much help to struggling homeowners, largely because it is operated by the very people who caused the problem in the first ...

Central Bank Watch: Bernanke Warns of U.S. Contraction

The main highlights of the week so far in central bank-related news included Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony on the U.S. economy and financial markets on Wednesday, along with the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to hold rates at 7.25%. There were also some central bank speakers, including the Bank ...

U.S. Mortgage Applications Drop 28.7%, Refinances Fall 38.1%

Mortgage applications in the U.S. fell 28.7% in the week ending March 28, with the market composite index decreasing to 688.3 from 959.9 a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey released Wednesday. The trade group's refinance index also decreased... Read More ...

Plenty More Subprime Fallout to Come, Says CIBC’s Rubin

Losses from the U.S. subprime mortgage meltdown could top $300 billion, an economist from one of Canada's major banks told a Toronto real estate conference on Wednesday. The bleeding isn't over yet, warned Jeff Rubin, chief economist at CIBC World Markets. There will "continue to be downward pressure on U.S. housing prices ...

Fed’s Bernanke Defends Bear Stearns Bailout, Paints Glum Economic Picture

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Wednesday touched on a variety of factors contributing to the current weak state of the U.S. economy, but also defended the Fed's recent actions to facilitate a deal that prevented a major investment bank from collapsing. He said that several measures taken by the Fed ...

Preview of Wednesday, April 2 2008

(CEP News) - On Wednesday, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke takes centre stage when he testifies before the Joint Economic Committee. All times in EDT. Wednesday 7:00 US MBA Mortgage Applications 28-Mar Prior: +48.1% 7:30 US Challenger Job Cuts (Y/Y) March Prior: -14.2% 8:15 US ADP Employment Change ...

Fed to Provide Maps of Foreclosure Hotspots

The Federal Reserve announced Tuesday that it will provide a set of maps and data illustrating subprime and alt-A mortgage loan conditions across the U.S. on the New York Fed Bank website. The maps, maintained by the New York Fed, will display regional variations in the condition of securitized, owner-occupied subprime ...

U.S. Construction Spending Falls 0.3% in February

Total construction spending in January fell 1.7%. Total residential construction spending fell 0.9% in February to an annual rate of $463.761 billion, a slower decline than the previous month's drop of 2.9%. Non-residential construction increased 0.1% in February to $657.802 billion after a 0.8% drop in January. Several non-residential sectors made ...

Treasury’s Levey Says Financial Information Critical in Combatting Terrorism

(CEP News) Washington - Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence Stuart Levey told the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday that in the four years since his office was established, the use of financial information has become critical in the global war on terror. Because terrorist networks must use the same ...

Senator Hillary Clinton’s Housing Plan

Each of the three possible candidates for nomination as their party's presidential nominee has made major speeches recently spotlighting their solutions to the housing and subprime mortgage crisis. We will continue our 3 part series with Senator Hilary Clinton who has outlined a four step plan to address foreclosures and their ...

Lehman Brothers Stock Sale Sends Market Surging; UBS Still Writing Down

Lehman Brothers fought off persistent rumors that it might be headed to a Bear Stearns-like collapse by raising $4 billion in capital on Tuesday. The fourth-largest U.S. investment bank has taken some hard hits from its participation in the sub-prime market and may also have suffered from bogus rumors pushed by... ...

The Day Ahead: U.S. ISM Report

In the wake of mixed regional data, the U.S. ISM report to be released Tuesday, will highlight the state of the U.S. national manufacturing sector. The consensus for the ISM report is a reading of 47.5 following February's 48.3 figure. All times EDT Tuesday 7:45 US ICSC Chain Store Sales W/W ...