Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
Select areas in Boston; Denver; St. Louis; Louisville, Kentucky; and Camden, New Jersey are set to receive an massive influx of federal funding as the government seeks to revitalize “distressed” neighborhoods by turning dilapidated public housing units into new, mixed-income, mixed-use housing units. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Coming from the desk of a housing and architecture expert, this letter urges Housing and Urban Development Secretary nominee Ben Carson to take a hard look at America’s housing situation and see that it’s an “everyone problem.” To the author, the housing crisis isn’t brain surgery — it’s far more difficult. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced they are suspending all evictions for the holiday season. While servicers will be permitted to carry out foreclosure activities, evictions won’t be permitted for GSE-backed mortgages during these dates. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Shares of Pfizer Inc. surged 2.5% in midday trade Monday, after the drug giant said it was raising its quarterly dividend by 6.7%. The company said the new dividend of 32 cents a share, up from 30 cents, will be payable March 1, to shareholders of record on Feb. 3. At the current stock price of $32.51, the new annual dividend rate implies a dividend yield of 3.94%, compared with the aggregate yield for the Dow components of 2.33%, according to FactSet. “The dividend increase demonstrates our continued commitment to deliver value to our shareholders and our confidence in the business,” said Chief Executive Ian Read. The stock has edged up 0.7% year to date, while the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF has lost 4% and the Dow has run up 14%.
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From:: Stock Market News
Just one year after telling investors that it planned to wade back into the mortgage waters, Ally Financial Inc. has taken a big step into submerging itself into real estate finance.
br>After allowing former subsidiar Residential Capital LLC to fall into bankruptcy in 2012, the New York-based firm in 2013 walked away from the mortgage business entirely.
But at the Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference in New York in December 2015, Ally revealed plans to introduce limited direct mortgage originations this year.
From:: Financing
Energy stocks enjoyed a broad rally Monday, after an agreement by non-OPEC members to cut production sent crude oil futures surging to a 17-month high. The SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF shot up 1.6% in morning trade, to the highest level since June 17, 2015. Among the ETF’s more-active components, Chesapeake Energy Corp. shares climbed 1.7%, paring earlier gains of as much as 6.2% to a 14-month high in intraday trade of $8.20. With volume of 21 million shares, the stock was the third-most actively traded on major U.S. exchanges. Shares of Chevron Corp. rose 2.2% and of Exxon Mobil Corp. rallied 2%, as they paced the gainers within the Dow Jones Industrial Average . Elsewhere, Noble Corp.’s stock gained 1.2%, Transocean Ltd. shares hiked up 1.5% and shares of Marathon Oil Corp. tacked on 2.7%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News
A few years after Ally Bank exited mortgage lending, it is now making its comeback as the bank re-enters the market in a much bigger way. The bank fell on hard times just after the housing crisis, but now announced its new home mortgage offering, and its commitment to “do it right.” Click the headline to read more. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Shares of Lionbridge Technologies Inc. climbed 3.4% in morning trade Monday, after the the marketing company announced an agreement to be acquired by private equity firm H.I.G. Capital in a deal valued at $360 million. Under terms of the deal, H.I.G. will pay $5.75 in cash for each Lionbridge share outstanding, which is 3.2% above Friday’s closing price of $5.57. Lionbridge will have a 45-day “go-shop” period in which it can solicit other buyout bids. “Our Board of Directors believes this transaction is in the best interest of our stockholders and affirms Lionbridge’s tremendous value and market-leadership,” said Lionbridge Chief Executive Rory Cowan. Lionbridge’s stock has rallied 17% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 11%.
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From:: Stock Market News
Retail job gains in October and November totaled 521,800, 14% fewer than the 604,300 retail jobs added during the period last year, according to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. In November alone, retail employment grew by 371,500 but was 9.3% below last year, the lowest November increase since 2010. “As more and more shoppers move online, there is less need for extra workers in the brick-and-mortar stores,” said John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. In September, the group anticipated a shift towards hiring focused on e-commerce operations. Since then, retailers like Macys Inc. have said the holiday hiring will have a focus on online sales.
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From:: Stock Market News
U.S. stocks opened mostly lower on Monday, though the Dow Jones Industrial Average touched a new intraday record, as the blue-chip index struggled toward 20,000. The Dow gained 7 points, or 0.02%, to 19,769. The S&P 500 index fell 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,258. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 23 points, or 0.4%, to 5,420. Meanwhile, surging oil prices helped support energy shares. U.S.-traded crude futures rose nearly 5% in recent trade.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News