Mortgage News Daily - Mortgage And Real Estate News

A Prominent Economist and Comfort from the Past

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:09:35 EST

In the midst of the current panic, economist Robert J. Samuelson offers some reassurance in his Newsweek column in the October 13 issue.� His headline asks "Is This a Replay of 1929?" and his answer is generally "not even close," but it is his historical perspective on the stock market that is most heartening.

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Paulson Says Crisis Highlights Need for Regulatory Reform

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:55:25 EST

In a policy statement released by the President's Working Group on Financial Markets, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that there is much work to be done on market regulation.

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Treasury Likely to Take Bank Equity Stakes

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 13:00:15 EST

The U.S. Treasury will use a portion of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to take equity stakes in financial institutions, according to the White House.

The Treasury will inject capital into companies in exchange for "an equity stake", the U.S. President's chief spokesperson, Dana Perino, said Thursday.

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Most Mortgage Rates Drop Reflecting Bond Yields

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 12:48:17 EST

With the exception of the one-year adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) mortgage rates fell during the week ended October 9 according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) carried an average contract interest rate of 5.94 percent with 0.6 point compared to the previous week when the average was 6.0 percent also with 0.6 point.

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RTC could be Rescue Plan Role Model

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 07:51:07 EST

It is just beginning, but count on the name Resolution Trust Corporation being invoked more and more as the Treasury Department figures out how to approach its mandate to straighten out the economy and spend the billions of dollars Congress has put in its hands.

The Corporation, fondly known as the RTC, was the entity created to resolve the last financial debacle when 1043 savings and loan companies (thrifts), about half the nation's total, failed due to unbridled, ill- advised, and (ahem) unregulated lending practices.

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Crisis Taking Toll on U.S. Consumer Confidence, RBC Survey Shows

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 07:17:19 EST

In its largest single monthly decline, RBC's Consumer Attitudes and Spending by Household (CASH) Index showed the economic crisis is driving down consumer confidence in the U.S.

The index dropped 32 points in October, the largest single-month decline since the index's inception in January 2002. The index now stands at 37.0, down significantly from the 69.2 in September.

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AIG Assumes Additional $37.8 Billion Loan

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 07:14:01 EST

On Wednesday evening, the U.S. Federal Reserve authorized an additional $37.8 billion loan to U.S. insurance giant American International Group after authorities took the firm into conservatorship and provided it with an $85 billion loan in September.

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Jobless Claims Continue to Suggest Recession, Economists Say

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 07:11:33 EST

Economists say the worrying trend of jobless claims adds further evidence that payrolls will continue to decline for many months. The weekly report showed continuing claims reached a cyclical high, while initial claims fell back from a seven-year peak but remain in deep recessionary territory.

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WSJ Says U.S. Government Planning Dramatic UK-Style Intervention

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:58:31 EST

An exclusive report from the Wall Street Journal says the U.S. government is weighing options on a far-reaching plan that would be the most extensive government intervention into the financial system seen so far.

One dramatic step would be to guarantee billions of dollars in bank debt; the other plan is to temporarily insure all U.S. bank deposits.

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Paulson Says Rescue Fund Will Inject Capital into Financial Institutions

Wed, 8 Oct 2008 13:39:17 EST

The $700 billion rescue package passed last week by the U.S. Congress will in part be used to inject capital into financial institutions, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said during a press conference on Wednesday. He is also calling for a G20 meeting to discuss the current financial crisis.

Paulson explained that because of the widespread uncertainty in the marketplace, investors are hesitant to commit capital to...

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