Finance Globe

Ten of the nation's leading banks won approval from the U.S. Treasury to repay about $68 billion in TARP funds, the government said Tuesday. "These repayments are an encouraging sign of financial repair, but we still have work to do," said Secretary Tim Geithner.Combined with repayments received to date from other institutions, Treasury will have received approximately $70 billion in repayments from Capital Purchase Program (CPP) participants. More than 600 banks across the country have participated...

The unemployment rate rose to 9.4% in May from 8.9% in April, according to a report released today by the Department of Labor.The pace of job cuts is slowing and the month of May lost 345,000 jobs - about half as many jobs as in each of the previous six months. Still, the job market remains weak and the unemployment rate is currently at a 26-year high. Since the start of the recession in December 2007,...

Delinquencies in commercial and multi-family residential mortgages continued to rise during the first quarter of 2009 due to the weak economy and an ongoing credit crunch, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).Jamie Woodwell, Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research at the Mortgage Bankers Association, said, “Delinquency rates on commercial and multifamily mortgages held by banks and thrifts, by Fannie Mae and in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) are all...

Pending home sales rose for the third month in a row in April, boosted by low interest rates, affordable home prices, and the $8000 first-time homebuyer's credit.According to a report released today by the National Association of Realtors, the Pending Homes Sales Index rose 6.7% to 90.3 from 84.6 in March. The index is 3.2% higher than it was a year ago when it was 87.5.The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the...

The volume of mortgage applications rose slightly last week, according to a report released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association.Last week's mortgage loan application volume, as measured by the Market Composite Index, was 915.9, up 2.3% from 895.6 the previous week, seasonally adjusted. On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 2% compared with the previous week and increased by 42% compared with the same week from last year.The Refinance Index increased by 4.5% to 4794.4 from...

Continuing job losses remain severe, according to a report release by the Labor Department on Thursday. While the number of initial jobless claims dipped slightly last week, this is mostly because it is being compared with the prior week in which Chrysler layoffs bumped that week's number much higher.The advance number for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 631,000 for the week ending May 16 - a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's revised figure...

In these difficult times, fraudsters are working under the guise of the federal government to trick struggling homeowners.President Obama announced the Making Home Affordable program earlier this year as part of the effort to help homeowners who are having financial difficulty in making their house payments. At makinghomeaffordable.gov, homeowners can receive free help on loan modifications or assistance in refinancing into a lower interest rate so their payments are more affordable for the long term.Millions of...

President Obama held a town meeting on Thursday in Rio Rancho, New Mexico to discuss his plans for immediate reform of the credit card industry."It’s time for strong and reliable protections for our consumers. It’s time for reform that is built on transparency, accountability, and mutual responsibility – values fundamental to the new foundation we seek to build for our economy," President Obama said.The White House said in a statement, "Americans need a durable and successful...

Home sales in the first quarter of 2009 reflect that home buyers have been bargain hunting, according to a report released on Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).First-time home buyers accounted for half of all home purchases, and distress sales - foreclosures and short sales - also accounted for nearly half of all homes sales during this period, pushing down the median sales price.Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said some areas showed dramatic drops...

The Federal Trade Commission reported on Monday that it is investigating a California-based mortgage lender for violating the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) by pricing loans according to the applicant's race or nationality. According to the FTC’s complaint, Golden Empire Mortgage charged Hispanic home buyers higher prices for mortgage loans than non-Hispanic white home buyers - prices which could not be explained by the applicant's credit characteristics or underwriting risk. The FTC seeks to bar future...