Freddie Mac announced recently that it plans to sell off more than $1 billion in non-performing loans, as the government-sponsored enterprise continues its efforts to shed some delinquent mortgages from its books. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Aerie Pharma shares jump more than 60% on eye-drug study results
Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares skyrocketed in the extended session Wednesday after the drug discovery company’s treatment for lowering fluid pressure inside the eyeball yielded promising results. Aerie shares jumped 61% to $34 on heavy volume. In a late-stage clinical trial, the company said its treatment Roclatan significantly lowered intraocular pressures in treated patients compared to those treated with latanoprost or Rhopressa, another Aerie product.
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
Dow industrials, S&P 500 close lower as oil prices fall
The Dow industrials and the S&P 500 closed lower Wednesday as dropping oil prices weighed on stocks, while the Nasdaq finished higher led by a big jump in Apple Inc. shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 31.91 points, or 0.2%, at 18,034.84. The S&P 500 Index fell 1.25 points, or less than 0.1%, to close at 2,125.77, dragged down by a 1.2% decline in the energy sector as oil prices slipped. The Nasdaq Composite Index finished up 18.52 points, or 0.4%, at 5,173.77, as Apple shares rallied 3.6%.
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
Home Appraisals Continue to Fall below Owner Perceptions Nationally
Quicken Loans recently announced appraisals across the country were an average of 1.56 percent lower than what refinancing homeowners expected in August, according to the company’s national Home Price Perception Index (HPPI).
The Quicken Loans Home Value Index (HVI), which measures home value changes exclusively through appraisals, moved higher yet in August. Home values increased 1.73 percent over the previous month, while jumping 8.13 percent higher than August 2015, according to the national HVI.
The trend of owners overestimating their home’s value when refinancing continued in August, with appraisals falling 1.56 percent lower than owners’ expectations in the national HPPI. However, the gap between valuation opinions of appraisers and owners edged closer to equilibrium since last month when appraisals were 1.69 percent lower than expected. Despite the nationwide trend, appraised values were higher than owners’ estimates in nearly half of the metro areas examined by the study. The report varied nationally with some areas, including Minneapolis, showing nearly identical estimates and values; while many western cities reported higher appraisals, like Denver where home values were as much as 3 percent higher than expected.
“While a one and a half percent difference may not seem like a big disparity of home value opinions, the gap could cause problems, especially in areas with an even wider difference,” says Quicken Loans Chief Economist Bob Walters. “In some portions of the Midwest, where appraisals are averaging 2-3 percent less than what was expected, this will often lead to restructuring a refinance or the homeowner needing to bring a few more thousand dollars to the closing table.”
Home values continued the upward climb in the last full month of summer, as competition for available housing was fierce. Appraisals showed average home values increased 1.73 percent since July and grew 8.13 percent year-over year, according to the national HVI. In a reversal of the prevailing trend, the West trailed the other regions in home value growth with a 0.74 percent increase. The Midwest had the largest growth with a 2.45 percent month-over-month gain.
“Competition in the housing market has been especially hot this summer, causing home values to climb,” says Walters. “This spike can concern some buyers, as the increases are outpacing inflation and wage increases, leading to affordability problems in some of the hottest markets. However, the pace of home value increases will likely slow as we move into the colder months and there is more balance between buyers and sellers.”
For more information, visit www.QuickenLoans.com/Indexes.
From:: Finance and Economy
The Fed’s true final push for #HARPNow?
But wait there’s more! The Federal Housing Finance Agency is trying one last time, or so we think, to capture the remaining 323,000 homeowners who could save an average of $2,400 per year through the Home Affordable Refinance Program. As a result, the agency revived its hashtag #HARPNow. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Wells Fargo’s stock extends slide; Warren Buffett could be losing $2 billion this month
Wells Fargo & Co.’s stock dropped 0.8% in afternoon trade Wednesday, toward a 2 1/2-month closing low, after The Wall Street Journal reported that Federal prosecutors were investigating the bank over its sales tactics. On Friday, the bank was fined $185 million by federal and local authorities for illegal practices that included opening accounts without customers’ knowledge. The stock has now lost $4.21, or 8.3%, since it closed at a three-month high on Aug. 31. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. , which is Wells Fargo’s largest shareholder with 479.7 million shares, or 9.5% of the shares outstanding, as of June 30, could be losing about $2.02 billion on his investment month to date. Wells Fargo’s stock has now lost 14% year to date, while the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF has slipped 0.2% and the S&P 500 has gained 3.9%.
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
Oil futures mark lowest settlement in nearly two weeks
Oil futures settled lower Wednesday at their lowest level in nearly two weeks. Data from the Energy Information Administration had revealed a surprise weekly decline in U.S. crude stockpiles. The same report also showed that total domestic weekly crude production climbed. October WTI crude fell $1.32, or 2.9%, to settle at $43.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That’s the lowest settlement since Sept. 1, according to FactSet data.
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
Mortgage Bankers Lift Q4 Refinance Forecast
Mortgage bankers have increased their forecast for refinances during the final quarter of this year and the first half of next year.
Including refinancing and purchase financing, home-lending volume is projected to reach $561 billion during the third quarter.
Business is then expected to decline to $417 billion in the fourth quarter and fall further — to $366 billion — three months after that.
…read more
From:: Financing
Vertex Pharma stock drops 5% after company predicts slower Q3
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares dropped 5.3% in early afternoon trade Wednesday after the company’s chief financial officer said the company would see reduced revenue in the third quarter due to slow sales of new cystic fibrosis drug Orkambi. Slow penetration of the drug in Germany, along with an unanticipated “slowdown” in July and August U.S. refills, “obviously… reduces the revenue that we record,” CFO Ian Smith said at the Morgan Stanley Global Health Care Conference Wednesday, according to the FactSet transcript. Though U.S. patients were taking less of the drug, which Smith blamed on the summer months, the trend is starting to reverse, he said. RBC Capital Markets continued to rate the stock “outperform,” with analyst Michael Yee saying that the slow summer could be a “potential buying opportunity.” Vertex stock dropped 1.7% over the last three months, compared with a 2.7% rise in the S&P 500 .
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
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals’ stock drops after cancer treatment voted down by FDA committee
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Wednesday that an Food and Drug Administration advisory committee voted that biotechnology company’s cancer treatment, Qapzola, did not show substantial evidence of a treatment effect over placebo. The company said the FDA is not bound to follow the committee’s recommendation, when it makes its final decision on Qapzola by Dec. 11. The stock dropped 5% in afternoon trade, but pared earlier losses of as much as 15%. The stock has now shed 14% year to date, while the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF has lost 9.4% and the S&P 500 has gained 4.4%.
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