New Fannie rules paying off July 28, 2010 Stricter lending standards adopted last year by Fannie Mae are beginning to pay off as the mortgage finance giant’s “new book” of business is the strongest in a decade, the firm’s chief executive said yesterday. Fannie Mae is emphasising safer, long-term, fixed-rate loans.
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 21, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES FIAT CONFIDENT OF BANK FINANCING Fiat’s ambitions to marry off its auto division with Chrysler of the US took a step forward yesterday, as it said banks were ready to provide €4bn ($5.1bn) in loans to help finance the demerger of its non-automotive operations next January. The Italian group also reported better-than-expected second [...]
BNY Mellon earnings triple despite fee falls July 20, 2010 BANK of New York Mellon saw its earnings more than triple in the second quarter, compared to a period last year when the bank was laid low by writedowns on mortgage-backed securities. The US custodial bank reported second-quarter profit attributable to shareholders of $658m (£430.2m), up from $176m a year earlier. That was equivalent to [...]
Tight credit conditions kept lending subdued last month July 20, 2010 BRITISH firms and households still face tight credit conditions despite an overall improvement in economic activity, the Bank of England’s Trends in Lending report revealed yesterday. Net lending to businesses fell for the third consecutive month in May and by £2.3bn, worse than April’s £1.1bn. But the annual decline eased to 8.1 per cent from [...]
House price gains set to be wiped out July 18, 2010 ALL the gains seen in property prices over the past six months will be wiped out by the end of the year, thanks to more aggressive pricing and an increase in the number of houses coming on to the market, property website Rightmove will say today. The forecast forms part of its monthly survey of [...]
HISTORIC FINANCIAL REFORM BILL PASSED July 15, 2010 US LAWMAKERS last night passed a landmark financial reform bill allowing the broadest overhaul of rules governing America’s largest financial institutions since the 1930s. The Senate approved the bill by a 60 to 39 vote last night and will now send it to President Barack Obama to sign into law next week. The bill, which [...]
Some good bits – but lots of bad stuff July 15, 2010 SO there you are: President Obama has finally got his Wall Street reform bill, a gargantuan, 2,315-page piece of legislation over which politicians and lawyers will argue for years. As we explain on page 1 and below, there is a huge amount of detail in the final version, with rules governing everything from investment banks [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD INTEREST RATES RISE? July 15, 2010 JAQUES VANZYL ALLIED WORLD ASSURANCE “At the moment I’m happy with the current rate. I have a flexible rate on my mortgage so my payments are very low. On the other hand, we also have savings and they have taken a hit, so it’s a bit of a conundrum. I’m looking for a fixed rate [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS July 15, 2010 BP: ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY At last, some good news for BP. Its stock has sunk so low – closing yesterday at 401.75p – that investors are jumping at the chance to snap up cheap stakes in the oil giant. Clients of Barclays Stockbrokers have been piling into the stock – a third of [...]
Fed reduces forecast for 2010 growth July 14, 2010 THE US economy’s recovery will be slower over the rest of the year than originally forecast, according to the Federal Reserve, which yesterday revised down its growth projections for the first time since the economic rebound began. Minutes of the Fed’s meeting, published yesterday, showed its central forecast is now for the economy to grow [...]