Existing Home Sales Drop to 10-year Low
July 24, 2008
Month-over-month sales of previously owned homes, including single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, fell 2.6 percent in June, according to the Existing Home Sales report issued today by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Thousands of Felons Issued Mortgage Licenses in Florida
July 24, 2008
The Miami Herald’s investigative team reported on Sunday that the
state has approved over 10,000 mortgage broker licenses for
convicted felons since 2000; over 4,000 were issued to
individuals who had been convicted of crimes such as fraud,
extortion, racketeering, and bank robbery crimes that are
specifically prohibited by the licensing statute…
New York Sues UBS Over Auction Rate Securities
July 24, 2008
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he is
suing UBS AG for misleading investors into buying auction-rate securities
just five months before the market collapsed.
NY Fed's Geithner Says Judgment on Regulatory Bill Should Be Held
July 24, 2008
“The U.S. and global financial systems are going through a very
challenging period of adjustment. The critical imperative today is to
help facilitate that adjustment and to cushion its impact on the broader
economy. The forces that made the system vulnerable to this crisis took a
long time to build up, and the system will need some
time to work through their aftermath,” said Geithner.
No End in Sight for Housing Market
July 24, 2008
“The U.S. housing market continues to be very weak, and with the
inventory of unsold homes continuing to rise we are
unlikely to see any meaningful turnaround in the sector in the near
term,” said Millan Mulraine, economics strategist at TD Securities.
Second Quarter Vacancy Rates Slip from Previous Quarter
July 24, 2008
The U.S National homeowner housing vacancy rate
slipped to 2.8% in the second quarter, a 0.1% decline from the previous
quarter’s 2.9% rate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau report released
on Thursday.
SEC Chairman Cox Wants More Regulatory Authority Over Investment Banks
July 24, 2008
Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee, SEC
Chairman Christopher Cox said he needs more
authority to have mandatory supervision of investment banks.
Thursday's Events: U.S. Jobless Claims, Existing Home Sales, Fed's Geithner
July 24, 2008
U.S. jobless claims and existing home
sales will dominate the scheduled events of the day, along with
testimony from New York Fed President Timothy Geithner (voter) and SEC
Chairman Chris Cox. Meanwhile, European markets will be paying attention
to the release of the Belgian business confidence index and comments from
Bank of England Deputy Governor Charles Bean.
Treasury Secretary Paulson Pleased Housing Bill Passed House Quickly
July 24, 2008
After the U.S. House of Representatives passed a housing
bill including provisions for the creation of a new GSE
regulator and a liquidity backstop to help the beleaguered Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac, U.S. Treasury Secretary Paulson expressed his gratitude for
the bill having passed quickly.
Soaring U.S. Jobless Claims Viewed as Reliable Indicator of Weak Labour Market
July 24, 2008
Initial claims for unemployment benefits in the
United States soared to 406k in the week ending July 19, the highest
level since March, according to the Department of Labor on Thursday.
Economists said July data has been volatile, but the latest data is a
reliable indicator of weakness in the jobs market.
Existing Home Sales Fall 2.6% to 4.86 Million in June
July 24, 2008
U.S. existing home sales fell 2.6% to 4.86 million
units in June following May’s unrevised sales figure of 4.99 million.
This is the fourth month home sales have remained under the five million
mark, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).