Consumers are more confident about the economy than they have been on the past nine years. Most of this confidence, according to one expert, stems from the recent increase in labor market conditions. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
NYDFS reportedly looking into Caliber Home Loans
The New York Department of Financial Services is reportedly looking into how Caliber Home Loans handles distressed mortgages and the lender’s origination practices for borrowers with less-than-perfect credit profiles. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Affordability crisis almost over? Household incomes increase faster than home prices
The Case-Shiller results came out today showing home prices increased to just below the July 2006 all-time high. While that may seem like bad news for affordability, the industry’s reaction was positive as they talked about the household income increase. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
SEC fines Weatherford Int’l $140 million for allegedly inflating earnings
The Securities and Exchange Commission settled charges Tuesday with Weatherford International , an oil services company, for allegedly inflating earnings by using deceptive income tax accounting. Two of the company’s former senior accounting executives allegedly made inappropriate adjustments to fill gaps and meet goals for the company’s effective tax rate that were touted to analysts and investors. Weatherford restated its financial statements on three occasions in 2011 and 2012 to correct the misstatements. The company agreed to pay a penalty of $140 million but did not admit or deny the findings. James Hudgins, who served as Weatherford’s vice president of tax, and Darryl Kitay, who was a tax manager, will pay penalties of $334,067 and $30,000, respectively. Hudgins is barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company for five years, and Hudgins and Kitay are suspended from appearing and practicing before the SEC as accountants.
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
Some Charges Dropped Against Frmr Thornburg Execs
Some of the charges in a government securities lawsuit against former top executives of bankrupt Thornburg Mortgage Inc. have been dropped.
Amid the financial crisis, Thornburg — a now-defunct jumbo mortgage lender based in Santa Fe, New Mexico — filed bankruptcy in 2009.
In a 2012 lawsuit, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleges senior executives hid more then $400 million in losses, leading to its demise.
…read more
From:: Financing
Deutsche Bank shares turn positive after Justice Department comments
Shares of Deutsche Bank erased losses to turn higher in Frankfurt after the U.S. Justice Department’s third highest-ranking official said banks can lower penalties by cooperating with authorities, according to a news report. Shares of Deutsche Bank have dropped more than 50% in 2016 and are down nearly 20% since the end of August after a report by The Wall Street Journal said U.S. officials proposed the bank pay $14 billion to settle civil claims related to dealings in mortgage-backed securities. Shares bounced from early losses to rise 0.8% in Frankfurt, while U.S.-listed shares were up 0.4%. Referring to banks that had already settled claims over mortgage dealings, Bill Baer, assistant attorney general for antitrust, said the institutions “paid a lot more” than would have been the case if they “had cooperated early on,” according to Bloomberg. “Whether to cooperate with the government in these matters is a choice companies need to make,” said Baer, in a speech in Chicago. Deutsche Bank has said it has no intention of paying $14 billion to settle the claims.
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
Case-Shiller results barely miss July 2006’s high
Home prices rose yet again in July, and while not quite as fast as June’s pace, it did come less than a percentage point away from July 2006’s all-time high. Home prices in three cities continue to increase faster than any other city. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
U.S. stocks open lower, weighed by Deutsche Bank fears, falling oil
U.S. stocks on Tuesday opened lower, weighed by falling oil prices and worries over troubled Deutsche Bank . Crude-oil prices dropped nearly 3% after both Iran and Saudi Arabia played down expectations for a deal to freeze or cut oil production at the closely watched informal OPEC meeting on Wednesday. Futures had rallied overnight after the closely watched U.S. presidential debate between Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican contender Donald Trump late Monday. The S&P 500 opened down 4 points, or 0.2%, to 2.143. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 33 points, or 0.2%, to 18,059. And the Nasdaq Composite fell 3 points, or 0.1%, to 5,254.
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
American Express’s stock rallies after dividend hike, new stock buyback plan
Shares of American Express Co. rose 1.6% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the financial services company raised its dividend and set a new stock buyback program. The new quarterly dividend of 32 cents a share, up 10% from 29 cents a share, will be payable Nov. 10 to shareholders of record on Oct. 7. The new buyback program of 150 million shares replaces the previous 150 million-share program, which had about 50 million shares remaining. At Monday’s stock closing price of $63.42, the buyback program would be valued at $9.51 billion, and the new annual dividend would imply a dividend yield of 2.02%, compared with the aggregate yield for the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 2.48%, according to FactSet. The stock has dropped 8.8% year to date through Monday, while the Dow has gained 3.8%.
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From:: Stock Market News
Disney is the most likely acquirer of Twitter, analyst says
Walt Disney Co. is the most likely acquirer of Twitter Inc. , closely followed by Microsoft Inc. , according to James Cakmak of Monness, Crespi, Hardt. Disney is reportedly considering a bid, according to reports Monday. Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s chief executive, sits on the Disney board and Cakmak said Disney needs distribution and has the ability to make more content deals. Twitter would complement Microsoft’s personal assistant Cortana, he said, but Microsoft may be limited in funds because of its LinkedIn acquisition. Salesforce.com doesn’t have a direct reason to buy Twitter and Google ranks near the bottom because of antitrust concerns with the company, he said. Shares of Twitter were down less than 1% in premarket trade Tuesday.
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