Few May Benefit From Lower Mortgage Rates
Rates Increase
Mortgage rates increased today on a sell off in the Treasury market. The benchmark 10 year treasury note increased in yield by 16 basis points (bps) to 2.244%. The 2008 low on the [...]
FHA Takes A Closer Look At Home Values On Refinances
HUD announced in Mortgagee Letter 2008-40 that effective January 1, 2009 that FHA will require a second appraisal for all cash-out refinances where the loan to value, exclusive of UFMIP, exceeds 85% of the appraised value. The [...]
Is A Loan Modification Worth The Cost?
With the large number of people in arrears on their mortgages, various governmental agencies have been attempting to provide solutions. Loan modifications have been proposed as the answer for over a year now. The FDIC has recently [...]
Consumer Confidence Crushed As Upward Mobility Dies
No-Lay Off Policies Crumble, as reported by WSJ
Until recently, Enterprise Rent-A-Car Co. prided itself on a 51-year history of never laying off a U.S. employee. When competitors slashed fleets and shuttered branches after the Sept. 11 attacks, [...]
Madoff’s $50 Billion Only Exists On Customer Account Statements
Based on Bernard Madoff’s own estimation, he lost approximately $50 billion of investor funds. Every since this disclosure, the biggest questions are where did the money go and how much of the $50 billion remains.
Bloomberg is reporting [...]
The Collapse Of The American Consumer
Retail Sales Plummet
2008 is winding up as one of the worst holiday sales seasons on record. Overall sales for December declined by 4% and selected sales categories showed huge declines.
Luxury goods, once considered immune from economic turmoil, [...]
How To Inspire Panic In An Economic Crisis
In an extraordinarily candid and chilling economic assessment, the Governor of the Bank of Spain, Miguel Ordonez, warned that the global economy is on the brink of a “total” financial meltdown. Governor Ordonez, in an interview with [...]
$700 Billion Debated - $5 Trillion Ignored
When the original $700 billion TARP bailout program was proposed by Treasury Secretary Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke, the American public was shocked. The size of the bailout request was colossal, representing almost 10% of the [...]
Streamlined Modification Program - Who Is Eligible?
On December 18, 2008 the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Hope announced their Streamline Modification Program (SMP) to assist troubled homeowners. By implementing common standards and procedures for loan servicers to follow it [...]
