"If you do your homework, those teaser rates advertised by banks might just be yours for real.
" (2008-5-30)
May 30, 2008
Five Tips for Nabbing the Best Bank Rates
May 29, 2008
Dropping a brick
"House prices are falling even faster than during the Great Depression ?A DESTABILISING contraction in nationwide house prices does not seem the most probable outcome...nominal house prices in the aggregate have rarely fallen and certainly not by very much.? Alan Greenspan's soothing, if rather verbose, words on America's housing market in 2005 rank high on history's list of infamous predictions. But to be fair, most American economists shared his view that it was highly unlikely that average nationwide home prices would drop. That was the sort of thing that happened only during a deep depression, like the 1930s. Unfortunately, new figures this week reveal that house prices have already fallen by more over the past 12 months than in any year during the Great Depression. The S&P/Case-Shiller national index fell by 14.1% in the year to the first quarter. Admittedly, other property indices show smaller drops, but most economists now favour this measure. The index goes back only 20 years, but Robert Shiller, an economist at Yale University and co-inventor of the index, has compiled a version that stretches back more than a century. This shows that the latest fall in nominal prices is already much bigger than the 10.5% drop in 1932, at the worst point of the Depression. ..." (2008-5-29)
Cut Costs on Pet Food: Don't Abandon Fido
"As times get tough, people have lots of ways to save money that don't include giving up their house pets.
" (2008-5-29)
Cut Costs on Pet Food: Don't Abandon Fido
"As times get tough, people have lots of ways to save money that don't include giving up their house pets.
" (2008-5-29)
Through the floor
"America's house prices are falling even faster than during the Great DepressionAS HOUSE prices in America continue their rapid descent, market-watchers are having to cast back ever further for gloomy comparisons. The latest S&P/Case-Shiller national house-price index, published this week, showed a slump of 14.1% in the year to the first quarter, the worst since the index began 20 years ago. Now Robert Shiller, an economist at Yale University and co-inventor of the index, has compiled a version that stretches back over a century. This shows that the latest fall in nominal prices is already much bigger than the 10.5% drop in 1932, the worst point of the Depression. And things are even worse than they look. In the deflationary 1930s house prices declined less in real terms. Today inflation is running at a brisk pace, so property prices have fallen by a staggering 18% in real terms over the past year. ..." (2008-5-29)
Bear Stearns shareholders OK buyout
"Bear Stearns shareholders OK'd JPMorgan's $2.2B buyout of the investment bank whose wagers on subprime mortgages made it the largest corporate casualty of the credit crisis." (2008-5-29)
May 28, 2008
Key Shares Dip on Loan Worries
"The bank sees higher loan charge-offs due to a deteriorating portfolio of loans to homebuilders.
" (2008-5-28)
Key Grows More Pessimistic About Loans
"The bank increased the amount of charge-offs it expects due to a deteriorating portfolio of loans to homebuilders.
" (2008-5-28)
How to Snare the Elusive Home-Equity Loan
"Home-equity lines of credit aren't so easy to come by anymore, but there are ways to get them.
" (2008-5-28)
Settlement could save home buyers thousands
"Home buyers could save an average of more than $2,000 under a settlement with the National Association of Realtors announced Tuesday by the Justice Department.
" (2008-5-27)
May 27, 2008
Stocks Wane From Early Gains
"All three major indices were backtracking midday from earlier gains as enthusiasm for dropping oil prices and a rise in April home sales dies down.
" (2008-5-27)
U.S. Stocks a Bit Friskier After Long Weekend
"New York's major averages start the holiday-shortened week. Oil prices are dropping, and new housing data show less depressing new-home sales figures.
" (2008-5-27)
Home prices tumbled in first quarter
"A closely watched housing index shows U.S. home prices dropped at the sharpest rate in two decades during the first quarter." (2008-5-27)
May 26, 2008
Plenty of ‘For Sale’ signs but not many sales
"Like spring flowers, the "For Sale" signs are sprouting in front yards all over the country. But anxious sellers are facing the most brutal environment in decades, with a slumping economy, falling home prices and rising mortgage foreclosures." (2008-5-26)
May 25, 2008
All markets now equal in eyes of Fannie Mae
"Could the controversial mortgage industry practice of listing hundreds of local real estate markets as declining - and restricting lending through higher down payments or credit scores - be scrapped? The two biggest players in the home mortgage field, Fannie...
" (2008-5-25)
Water Everywhere, and Yet Home Prices Shrink
"An ebbing tide lowers all boats, at least if you take the analogy to water-related real estate. Lower prices and longer times on the market mean it's easier for boating enthusiasts to find a home that puts them closer to casting off from shore.
" (2008-5-25)
Klimt of the rubbish bin
"African artists who craft beauty from what's left behindAFRICAN contemporary art rarely comes up for sale at the big auction houses. Sotheby's achieved some success in 1999 when it sold a few treasures from Jean Pigozzi, who holds the world's biggest private African contemporary-art collection. But the event was staged as a benefit for UNICEF and was heavily underwritten; many did not see it as a real auction.In 2000 Bonhams tried something more conventional, again in London, with a sale of modern and contemporary art, mostly from Nigeria. The estimates were low, yet many pieces did not sell. Those that did went for the asking price or less. ..." (2008-5-24)
Looser Credit on the Way In 'Declining' Markets?
"Could the mortgage industry scrap its controversial practice of listing hundreds of local real estate markets as "declining" -- and restricting lending there through higher down payments or credit scores?
" (2008-5-24)
Home price index posts largest-ever decline
"A home-price index considered to be the most comprehensive reading posted the sharpest decline in its 17-year history, and analysts say housing has yet to bottom out." (2008-5-22)
Let them eat cake
"European farm ministers are wrong to defend the notorious common agricultural policyMARIE-ANTOINETTE would have been proud of Europe's farm ministers this week, as they debated what to do about the high price of food. True, ministers did not quite sigh ?qu'ils mangent de la brioche? as they discussed the hungry (as tradition alleges the French queen did when told that the poor of Paris had no bread). But that, in essence, was the message from the French, Germans, Spanish and Austrians, as they leapt to defend the common agricultural policy (CAP), which helps Europe to produce some of the priciest food in the world.At least Marie-Antoinette had the excuse of a sheltered upbringing. It is harder to explain the conduct of some European Union governments. On the one hand, their leaders claim to be deeply concerned about the impact of food prices on the ?vulnerable? at home and abroad (to quote the sonorous conclusions of an EU-Latin America summit on May 16th). Yet in Brussels three days later several farm ministers called for the retention of policies that make food in Europe expensive. ..." (2008-5-22)
Let them eat cake
"European farm ministers are wrong to defend the notorious common agricultural policyMARIE-ANTOINETTE would have been proud of Europe's farm ministers this week, as they debated what to do about the high price of food. True, ministers did not quite sigh ?qu'ils mangent de la brioche? as they discussed the hungry (as tradition alleges the French queen did when told that the poor of Paris had no bread). But that, in essence, was the message from the French, Germans, Spanish and Austrians, as they leapt to defend the common agricultural policy (CAP), which helps Europe to produce some of the priciest food in the world.At least Marie-Antoinette had the excuse of a sheltered upbringing. It is harder to explain the conduct of some European Union governments. On the one hand, their leaders claim to be deeply concerned about the impact of food prices on the ?vulnerable? at home and abroad (to quote the sonorous conclusions of an EU-Latin America summit on May 16th). Yet in Brussels three days later several farm ministers called for the retention of policies that make food in Europe expensive. ..." (2008-5-22)
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