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Fact and Comment (Forbes.com)
Forbes.com - President Bush has made it clear that he wants a thorough overhaul of both Social Security and the federal income tax code. The President shouldn't settle for half measures.
Mortgage Rates Up 0.06 Percent This Week (AP)
AP - Mortgage rates climbed this week as Wall Street investors responded to some encouraging signs that the economy is gaining momentum.
Lucent to Receive $816 Million Tax Refund (AP)
AP - Lucent Technologies Inc. will receive an $816 million tax refund after the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation approved the company's tentative agreement with the Internal Revenue Service.
Average Mortgage Rates for 1-Family Homes (AP)
AP - Average Mortgage Rates for 1-Family Homes
Mortgage Applications Fell Last Week (Reuters)
Reuters - U.S. consumers' appetite for mortgages
and home loan refinancing dipped last week as 30-year mortgage
rates reached their highest levels in a month, an industry
group said on Wednesday.
China Funds Are Bringing Strong Returns (AP)
AP - With a series of open-market reforms and an economy expanding by at least 8 percent a year, China has enjoyed unprecedented international investment — and investors have enjoyed double-digit returns.
Online Trading Tips (The Motley Fool)
The Motley Fool - Those nice folks at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), charged with (among other things) looking out for the interests of individual investors, never stop trying to help us out. Their sec.gov website, for example, offers a bunch of tips for those of us who trade stocks online.
Regulators Accuse H&R Block of Fraud (AP)
AP - Securities regulators have accused H&R Block Financial Advisors of fraud in selling customers nationwide some $16 million of Enron bonds in late 2001 and touting them as a safe investment when the energy-trading giant had begun to collapse.
H&R Block Faces Fraud Over Enron Bonds (Reuters)
Reuters - H&R Block Inc.'s financial
advisors unit on Monday was charged with fraud by securities
regulators for misrepresenting the risks of Enron Corp.
bonds and calling them safe, even as the energy
trader had begun its collapse into bankruptcy.
H&R Block Faces Fraud Charge Over Enron (Reuters)
Reuters - Financial services regulator NASD said
on Monday it has charged H&R Block Financial Advisors Inc.
with fraud related to the sale of Enron Corp.
bonds immediately preceding Enron's bankruptcy in
2001.
Vornado shops at Sears (TheDeal.com)
TheDeal.com - The REIT bought a 4.3% stake worth $330 million in the retailer, which has significant real estate holdings.
Fed: Consumers Borrowed Freely in Sept. (AP)
AP - Consumers borrowed more freely in September, especially when it came to racking up charges on their credit cards, the Federal Reserve reported Friday.
ECB holds minimum bid "refi" rate steady at 2.00 pct (AFP)
AFP - The European Central Bank held the minimum bid rate for its regular refinancing operations steady at 2.00 percent, a spokesman for the bank said.
Beware of 40-Year Mortgages (The Motley Fool)
The Motley Fool - The exciting world of mortgages offers much more than just your standard 30-year or 15-year loans. There are such beasts as 40-year fixed-rate mortgages, for example. These have been around for a long time but are now on the verge of becoming more widespread.
Poland raises PKO stake on offer (TheDeal.com)
TheDeal.com - The state will now sell 38.5% of the bank's shares, following heavy demand from individual investors.
SocGen in talks to buy Hanseatic (TheDeal.com)
TheDeal.com - The French bank hopes to get 75% of the German consumer credit specialist from Otto.
Stolen Computers Have Wells Fargo Data (AP)
AP - Thousands of Wells Fargo & Co. mortgage and student-loan customers may be at risk for identity theft after four computers were stolen last month from a vendor that prints loan statements.
HUD Eases Affordable-Housing Goals (AP)
AP - New government-set goals for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make home ownership affordable have been eased slightly from the targets proposed earlier this year, the Housing and Urban Development Department said Monday.
ING to Pay $370 Million for Allianz Unit (Reuters)
Reuters - Dutch financial services group ING
will pay about $370 million for the Canadian non-life insurance
business of German insurer Allianz, to be funded by floating
part of its ING Canada unit.
Election Likely Won't Change Portfolios (AP)
AP - With the race for the White House in a dead heat, many on Wall Street are handicapping the outcome in the hopes of reaping big profits if they correctly guess the winner. But while it's fine for professional investors to bet on how various sectors will perform if Sen. John Kerry defeats President Bush or vice versa, financial planners warn this is a dangerous game for the rest of us to play.
Finance: Homeowner Headaches (Reuters)
Reuters - Don't look now, but your homeowner's
insurance policy isn't the safe blanket of protection you think
it is.
Bench-Pressed (Forbes.com)
Forbes.com - Benchmarks are a big part of how investors make decisions. Each quarter investors pore over the results from individual stocks, mutual funds and other types of portfolios--and then compare them to an index, a broad basket of stocks in their category. If a stock or fund trails the benchmark's performance for only a quarter, a distressing number of investors sell. Bad idea.
15 Ex-Brokers Accused of Misleading Action (AP)
AP - The state has charged 15 former brokers for Metropolitan Investment Securities Inc. with allegedly making misleading recommendations to thousands of older, unsophisticated investors who were trying to save for retirement.
More Types of Mortgages (The Motley Fool)
The Motley Fool - Within the broader mortgage categories of fixed and adjustable-rate, there are plenty of variations, such as COFI, Hybrid, and Balloon loans, several of which combine aspects of the two main types. Let's take a look.
Aetna Posts $1.29 Billion in Earnings (Reuters)
Reuters - Aetna Inc. on Thursday posted a
steep rise in quarterly profit as the health insurer boosted
its forecast for the rest of this year and gave a 2005 profit
estimate above analysts' views, pushing shares up 5 percent.
The Day Of The REIT Dawns In Asia (BusinessWeek Online)
BusinessWeek Online - When a consortium of Hong Kong businessmen led by tycoon Li Kashing decided to cash in their investment in a sprawling Singapore retail-office complex called Suntec City Development, there were plenty of interested parties and one firm bidder: Ergo, a unit of German insurance giant Munich Re. But the owners rejected them all and decided to take a different route. In December, they will turn Suntec into a real estate investment trust, selling shares to the investing public for whatever the market will bear. They expect the REIT, which will yield about 7% a year, to list at $1. ...
Abbey says recovery hit by takeover distraction (AFP)
AFP - British bank Abbey National said that its share of Britain's mortgage-lending market slipped in the third quarter, blaming the drop on distraction due to its looming takeover by Spain's Banco Santander Central Hispano (SCH).
Existing Home Sales Surge in September (Reuters)
Reuters - Sales of existing U.S. homes surged
3.1 percent in September on low mortgage rates, and sales would
have been brisker had hurricanes not hit the south, a trade
association said on Monday.
Do You Need Disability Insurance? (The Motley Fool)
The Motley Fool - Just like life insurance, disability insurance is protection for your future income. In the case of disability insurance, though, the event covered is your inability to earn a living wage as a result of poor health or injury.
Mass Intelligence (Forbes.com)
Forbes.com - When Google finally gets its gargantuan market capitalization later this year, it will turn its founders into billionaires and make individual investors everywhere swoon. But it will also validate an idea: The most valuable resource on the Internet is the collective intelligence of everyone who uses it.
SCH shareholders approve Abbey National takeover (AFP)
AFP - Shareholders of Spain's largest bank, Banco Santander Central (SCH), overwhelmingly approved the 8.5-billion-pound (12.3-billion-euro, 15.3-billion-dollar) takeover of British mortgage bank Abbey National.
Red Flags for Advisors (The Motley Fool)
The Motley Fool - If you're searching for a financial advisor, here are some red flags to be aware of as you shop around:
Countrywide Posts 47 Pct Drop in Earnings (Reuters)
Reuters - Countrywide Financial Corp. on
Wednesday posted a 47 percent drop in quarterly earnings and
cut its outlook as mortgage refinancings fell and interest
rates climbed, sparking a broad sell-off in mortgage company
stocks.
Treasuries Rise, Market Tests 4 Pct Yield (Reuters)
Reuters - U.S. Treasury prices rose on Wednesday
as technical jostling for positions pushed benchmark yields
below the 4-percent threshold, sparking talk that mortgage
investors might step in and add fuel to the rally.
Get Your Head Out of the Game (The Motley Fool)
The Motley Fool - Are you overthinking your investments? We'd never advise you to make money decisions without some careful consideration. But according to the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII), even the most well-adjusted investors fall victim to mind games.
Fannie Mae: SEC Starts Formal Probe (Reuters)
Reuters - U.S. mortgage finance giant Fannie
Mae said on Tuesday the Securities and Exchange
Commission had changed the status of its investigation of the
company's accounting to formal from informal.
Wells Fargo Profit Rises 12 Percent (Reuters)
Reuters - Wells Fargo & Co. , the No. 4
U.S. bank, on Tuesday said third-quarter profit rose a
lower-than-expected 12 percent after a downturn in home
mortgage lending.
Beware of Mortgage Servicing Scams (The Motley Fool)
The Motley Fool - It all starts out innocently enough. You buy your home in the usual way, borrowing from a reputable lender such as National City (NYSE: NCC - News), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC - News), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC - News), E*Trade (NYSE: ET - News), J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM - News), Citibank (NYSE: C - News), or Wachovia (NYSE: WB - News). But many big lenders don't keep these loans on their books -- instead, they sell them to others to service. ...
Housing Starts Fall 6 Pct. in September (Reuters)
Reuters - U.S. housing starts slowed by a
larger-than-expected 6 percent in September after two months of
gains, but permits granted to builders outpaced expectations, a
government report showed on Tuesday.
Home Builder Optimism Rises in Oct-Report (Reuters)
Reuters - U.S. home builder optimism grew in
October to its strongest level in 2004 on low mortgage rates
and heavy traffic of potential buyers, rebounding from a
decline in September, an industry report said on Monday.
Lexmark's Mixed Message (The Motley Fool)
The Motley Fool - Printer manufacturer Lexmark (NYSE: LXK - News) reported both good and bad news today. First, the good -- despite a product recall and a disappointing back-to-school shopping season, the company posted a solid 9% increase in third-quarter sales to $1.27 billion. More importantly, net income jumped 50% to $156.1 million, or $1.17. Backing out a one-time $0.15 income tax gain, earnings still grew 29% to $1.02, easily outpacing analysts' projections. Unfortunately, the ink from this quarter had not even dried before warning signs surfaced of problems in the next.
Senator Wants Review of Snow Investment (Reuters)
Reuters - The top Democrat on the Senate
Finance Committee, Max Baucus, asked the Justice Department on
Friday to review Treasury Secretary John Snow's holding of $10
million of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae bonds.
Snag Ultra-Low Student Loan Rates (The Motley Fool)
The Motley Fool - Interest rates, still at levels close to all-time lows, are on the rise. But for many students and recent graduates, an opportunity exists (but not for much longer) to lock in record-low rates on student loans.
Cendant to spin off business (TheDeal.com)
TheDeal.com - The company has abandoned a sale of the mortgage and fleet operations, to be 50% owned by Cendant.
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