Archive for September, 2009
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
The US dollar continues to weaken after a pause on Monday, boosting appetite for dollar-denominated commodities and pushing share prices up. Crude oil halted a three-day decline and gained $1.34 to $71.05, with gold and silver following suit.
Approaching Noon in Tuesday’s session, all three major indexes are climbing enough to ...
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Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
Home prices bottomed out in the second quarter but prices are not rising as quickly as forecasters had assumed, an industry survey said Tuesday.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s House Price Index, which compiles data on single-family homes, rose by 0.3% in July, half the pace expected by analysts. The ...
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Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee begins its two-day monetary policy meeting today. Investors expect policy to remain accommodative well into 2010 so it’s a virtual certainty that the Fed Funds rate will remain at the historic low of zero to 0.25%, but with Ben Bernanke calling the recession “over” ...
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Monday, September 21st, 2009
Following a downturn in equity markets across the globe, US stocks opened sharply lower on Monday morning. A fifth straight advance in the Leading Economic Indicators had little impact on markets, who are anxious one day before the Federal Reserve holds its two-day monetary policy meeting.
As of 11:00, the S&P ...
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Monday, September 21st, 2009
Equity markets across the globe are in sell-mode this morning, leading the US futures market to point to a lower opening while the US dollar is showing strength. Stocks in Europe are more than half a percentage point lower, while shares in Hong Kong and Japan closed down 0.70% each. ...
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Friday, September 18th, 2009
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) today announced several significant policy changes that are intended to improve the housing agency's exposure to risk. The changes, effective January 1, include: Modification of Procedures for Streamline Refinance Transactions, Adoption of Home Valuation Code of Conduct Guidelines, Updated Appraisal Validity Period, New Appraisal ...
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Friday, September 18th, 2009
The government agency protecting mortgage lenders against losses has been burning through its liquidity as it attempts to stem the rising tide of foreclosures, the Washington Post reported. An independent audit said the reserve fund of the U.S. Federal Housing Administration will drop below the minimum levels required by Congress, ...
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Friday, September 18th, 2009
The main headline this morning doesn’t come from the markets, which are mixed on light trading, but from the Treasury, which closed its guarantee on money market mutual funds as scheduled.
The S&P 500 is up 0.04% to 1,066, pushing the weekly gain to 2.21%. The Dow is doing better with ...
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Friday, September 18th, 2009
Officials from four federal departments and agencies and attorneys general of 12 states met in Washington on Thursday to discuss what was termed an "epidemic" of fraudulent schemes designed to scam distressed homeowners....(read more)
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Friday, September 18th, 2009
Take a glance at the schedule and you could be forgiven for thinking it’s a holiday. No data from the US is will hit markets all day, nor are there Treasury auctions or officials speaking from the Federal Reserve. But don’t think markets will be quiet. Investors have next week’s ...
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