U.S. mortgage applications rose in the first week of 2010, reflecting surging demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates dropped, industry data showed on Wednesday.
Demand for loans to purchase a home, however, only rose marginally. A continuation of this trend would not bode well for the U.S. housing market, which has been showing signs [...]
Archive for January, 2010
Mortgage applications rise in first week of 2010
January 13th, 2010 by Financial Writer
Tags: home refinancing, interest rates, loans, mortgage applications, us housing market, us mortgage
more...More than 6 jobless workers chase 1 opening
January 12th, 2010 by Financial Writer
Nick Ayrom, a former high school teacher, looks for technology-related jobs on a computer terminal at the Verdugo Job Center in Glendale, Calif. With so many people out of work, the unemployment rate is forecast to top 10.5 percent later this year.
The competition for jobs is intensifying as companies are reluctant to hire new workers, [...]
Tags: Job Center, jobless workers, unemployed americans, unemployment rate
Fed earned $45 billion in 2009: report
January 12th, 2010 by Financial Writer
The Federal Reserve made record profits in 2009 and will return $45 billion to the Treasury, after its efforts to prop up the economy created a windfall for the government, the Washington Post reported.
The $45 billion reflects the highest earnings in the 96-year history of the U.S. central bank, the newspaper reported on its website [...]
Tags: fed, Federal Reserve, loans, mortgage, us central bank, us economy
Easy money may already be out of the markets
January 11th, 2010 by Financial Writer
The stock market rally is aging, and the surest sign is that investors are migrating to stocks that missed out on 2009’s big run.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up 69 percent since March 9. The stocks hit hardest during the bear market, including financials and small-caps, led the rally during its first seven [...]
Tags: easy money, economy's recovery, investors, recession, stock market
Romer: Employment key to curbing deficit
January 10th, 2010 by Financial Writer
A top White House economic adviser says reducing the country’s 10 percent unemployment rate is essential to reining in the growing budget deficit.
Christina Romer also seems to be backing a House effort to pump an additional $75 billion in federal spending into the struggling economy. Romer says “the sense that we need to do more [...]
Tags: christina romer, deficit, unemployment rate, us employment, white house economic
Consumer borrowing falls sharply in November
January 9th, 2010 by Financial Writer
Americans borrowed less for a 10th consecutive month in November with total credit and borrowing on credit cards falling by the largest amounts on records going back nearly seven decades.
The dramatic declines raised new worries about whether consumers will cut back further on spending, making it harder for the economy to mount a sustained rebound.
The [...]
Tags: borrowing, consumer, credit cards, economic activity, economic recovery, Federal Reserve
World markets edge higher ahead of US jobs data
January 8th, 2010 by Financial Writer
World stocks advanced Friday ahead of crucial U.S. unemployment data which some hope will show that the world’s largest economy created jobs in December for the first time in two years.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 2.61 points, or 0.1 percent, at 5,529.33 while Germany’s DAX rose 23.88 points, [...]
Tags: deepest recession, largest economy, us jobs, us unemployment, world markets, world stocks
European stocks fall on eve of key US jobs data
January 7th, 2010 by Financial Writer
Europe’s leading stock markets dropped on Thursday, the eve of major US jobs figures, and as British investors awaited the Bank of England’s latest decision on interest rates.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index fell by 0.29 percent to stand at 5,514.37 points in late morning deals.
Frankfurt’s DAX 30 shed 0.83 percent to 5,984.19 points and in [...]
Tags: british investors, commercial banks, european stocks, leading stock, us jobs, wall street stocks
Stock futures point to lower Wall Street open
January 6th, 2010 by Financial Writer
Stock index futures are modestly lower after a payroll company’s labor market report indicated job losses are slowing, but not as fast as expected.
The ADP National Employment Report said Wednesday that 84,000 private sector jobs were lost in December. That’s slightly worse than the 73,000 expected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters, but better than [...]
Tags: adp, economists, labor department's, stock, thomson reuters
Dems, Wall Street water down financial reform
January 5th, 2010 by Financial Writer
“I have nothing to say except I know how Britney Spears feels,” said Rep. Barney Frank on Sept. 27, 2008, after yet another day in which a pack of journalists followed his every move.
In the frenzied early reckoning of the financial crisis, Frank, the 15-term Massachusetts Democrat known for being the second openly gay member [...]
Tags: banking industry, financial crisis, financial reform, legislators, us federal reserve, wall street