A coalition of union leaders, homeowners, elected officials, and others launched a statewide campaign today urging JP Morgan to change its mortgage policies. The campaign states that unless the firm modifies its practices to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, participants of the coalition will boycott the bank, and encourage others to do the same. This comes Read More
Hedge-fund titan Phil Falcone has not run out of clever moves. The authorities found Mr. Falcone's trick of borrowing money from the hedge fund he founded so creative, they just had to investigate to learn more. Then, the money manager found an extra-creative way for his fund to raise money. And the borrowing Read More
One of the most important people in finance was overlooking Central Park from his Fifth Avenue apartment, enjoying the Bach that his twin teenage daughters were playing on violin and speaking to the young Fulbright scholars from Iraq and China he'd invited for a reception. "In everything I do, I always ask myself, 'Am I Read More
Amid increased fervor surrounding what looks to by widespread errors in the foreclosure process, investors today are showing a marked lack of confidence in Bank of America, the nation's largest bank by assets and, notably, the 2008 buyer of bumbling mortgage firm Countrywide.
As Fortune points out, shares of Bank of America today hit Read More
Each week, The Observer looks at commodities, stocks, currencies, and economic data points that are making big moves and setting new records. This week's extreme action takes place everywhere from the trenches of the U.S. employment market to the pristine beaches where the Thai Bhat trades hands. For the most hard-core, eye-popping economic action this Read More
Giant bank Wells Fargo announced today that it's paying $24 million "to eight states to enlist help in customer outreach, and to prevent or mitigate the impacts of foreclosures in these communities." It's doing this because the states in question -- Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Texas and Washington -- are investigating Read More
Angelo Mozilo, the former head of Countrywide and perhaps the best-tanned CEO in our nation's history, is now slated to stand trial on charges related to the now-defunct mortgage lender's representation of its loan portfolio.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging Mozilo, along with ex-Countrywide CFO Eric Sieracki and former president David Sambol with failure Read More
In a series of forecasts that vary to an astounding degree, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could cost the government $53 billion over the next decade -- or, the two mortgage entities could produce savings of as much as $44 billion.
Tasked by Congressman Barney Frank with providing Read More
Sprawling financial supermarket Citigroup yesterday told the U.S. Disctrict Court that a $75 million fine it agreed to pay the Securities Exchange Commissioin is an adequate sum to settle charges that it failed to disclose $39 billion in subprime assets in 2007.
Last week, the SEC defended the very same settlement agreement to U.S. Read More
Henry Kissinger’s quip about the Iran-Iraq War, “It’s a pity both sides can’t lose,” might as well apply to New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s impending legal assault on several leading banks for alleged criminality in their mortgage-backed CDO business. With their bailouts, heads-I-win-tails-you-lose compensation packages and arrogance, the banks have few well-wishers, even Read More
Governor Paterson has a gift for Mayor Bloomberg in his proposed budget: more than $50 million a year from the under-tapped resource that is the city's co-op housing market.
In the governor's cross hairs are loans for co-ops, which have long been free of taxation while taxes on equivalent condos and houses run between Read More
Moody's report scratches the surface of how bad it has yet to get in one of New York's biggest Read More
From the Wall Street Journal's Steve Kerch this morning: "The benchmark 30-year home mortgage fell below 5% for the first time ever in Freddie Mac's weekly rate survey, as economic weakness continued to push interest rates lower. The national average rate on the 30-year loan fell to 4.96% in the week Read More
From the Journal's Jessica Holzer this morning: "Though mortgage rates are falling, a Jan. 1 decline in the maximum size of a mortgage that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may buy or guarantee in certain costly U.S. housing markets is likely to push interest rates higher on larger Read More
Sayeth the Wall Street Journal this morning: "The sharp decline in Read More
