Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
Earlier this year, Bank of America, in partnership with Freddie Mac and Self-Help Ventures Fund, began offering mortgages that only required consumers to put down 3% and did not require the consumers to obtain mortgage insurance either. Bank of America said Thursday that the “Affordable Loan Solution” program is proving so successful in its first few months that the bank is doubling its annual commitment to the program – from $500 million to $1 billion. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Fixed mortgage rates moved higher this past week. But multiple short-term and long-term forecasts have fixed rates remaining where they are now for months.
Residential loans that were closed during September 2016 had an average 30-year note rate of 3.75 percent — the lowest monthly average since May 2013.
Mortgage rates averaged 3.77 percent in August 2016, while interest rates were much higher in September 2015, a month when they stood at 4.28 percent.
From:: Financing
MetaSource just promoted Mary Kladde to senior vice president of mortgage services. The former CEO talks about what this promotion, and her new responsibilities, means for her. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Loan modifications rose on a year-over-year basis, though a month-over-month slump was recorded for government-supported modifications.
Servicers of residential loans along with their service providers completed loan modifications on 36,006 mortgages during the month of August.
Loan modification volume picked up from the previous month, when the total was 34,815. The total also increased form 32,260 one year prior.
From:: Financing
Whole Foods Market Inc. late Thursday said it has contacted the health authorities after an employee at its Detroit store was diagnosed with Hepatitis A and immediately launched a review of its food logs and food preparation procedure. Hepatitis A is a liver disease that can be transmitted through contaminated food and water. A second case of Hepatitis A was reported by a Detroit resident who apparently consumed food prepared in the store, according to a report by Crain’s. “While there is no definitive link that the second case is related to the occurrence in our store, we are cooperating fully with the Detroit Health Department to ensure the safety of our customers and team members,” said Whole Foods in a statement. Shares of Whole Foods were off 0.3% after hours.
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From:: Stock Market News
Proofpoint Inc. gained about 10% in late trading Thursday after the security-software company detailed a huge earnings beat and acquisition of a young security startup. The Silicon Valley company agreed to purchase three-year-old startup FireLayers, which helps protect against malware passed along through cloud-based software, for $55 million. Proofpoint said it had a net loss of $18.4 million, or 44 cents a share, on sales of $99.8 million in the third quarter; after adjusting for stock-based compensation and other factors, the software firm claimed earnings of 19 cents a share. Analysts on average expected Proofpoint to report adjusted earnings of 5 cents a share on sales of $94.3 million, according to FactSet. Proofpoint’s billings–an important metric for cloud-software companies that reflects deferred revenue–also handily beat analyst projections: Proofpoint reported billings of $124.8 million, while a FactSet survey said the average analyst estimate was $115.6 million. Proofpoint shares closed with a 0.1% gain at $69.78, then jumped to about $76.50 in late trading. The stock was damaged late last year after short-seller Carson Block named the company its best short bet, but shares jumped after the company beat earnings projections last quarter as well.
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From:: Stock Market News
Despite affordability and inventory problems, housing still remains a bright spot for the economy. It’s not a statement you expect to hear, but it’s exactly what Freddie Mac stated today in its monthly Outlook for October. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. sank in Thursday’s extended session after the chip maker reported its quarterly loss widened from the previous year. AMD said its third-quarter loss deepened to $406 million, or 50 cents a share, from a loss of $197 million, or 25 cents a share, a year ago. On an adjusted basis, the company would have earned 3 cents a share. Revenue grew to $1.31 billion versus $1.06 billion in the same period last year. Analysts had forecast AMD to break even on a per-share basis on revenue of $1.21 billion, according to FactSet. In the fourth quarter, AMD expects its revenue to shrink 18%, plus or minus 3%, sequentially. The current Wall Street outlook on AMD’s fourth-quarter revenue is $1.06 billion. Shares fell 1.6% after hours, paring earlier slide.
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From:: Stock Market News
Shares of Schlumberger Ltd. rose 0.4% late Thursday after the oil-field services company reported third-quarter profit above expectations but sales that came in a hair below estimates. Schlumberger said it earned $176 million, or 13 cents a share, in the quarter, reversing a loss of $1.56 a share in the third quarter of 2015. Adjusted for one-time items, including charges related to its 2016 merger with Cameron International Corp., Schlumberger earned $353 million, or 25 cents a share, compared with $316 million, or 23 cents a share, a year ago. Sales fell 2% to $7.02 billion, from $7.16 billion in the year-ago period, the company said. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the company to report adjusted earnings of 22 cents a share on sales of $7.09 billion.
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From:: Stock Market News
Microsoft Corp. pulled in a lot more profit than was expected in its fiscal first quarter, pushing the company’s stock up more than 4% in late trading Thursday. The tech giant reported net income of $4.7 billion, or 60 cents a share, on sales of $20.5 billion. After adjustments for deferred revenue and other effects, Microsoft claimed profit of 76 cents a share on sales of Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected Microsoft to collect adjusted profit of 68 cents a share on sales of $21.7 billion. Microsoft credited its cloud business for its performance, with revenue for Azure–Microsoft’s cloud-computing offering that competes with Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Web Services division– rising 116% year-over-year, the company said. “Our first quarter results showed continued demand for our cloud-based services,” Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said in Thursday’s announcement. Microsoft shares closed with a 0.5% decline at $57.25, but jumped to about $60 in late trading after results were released.
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From:: Stock Market News