Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
Quarterly home loan production surpassed prior period totals at PennyMac Financial Services Inc. A new wholesale lending channel is planned.
Pretax income from April 1 to June 30 totaled $84 million, well above the $30 million earned during the previous period and the highest on record.
The Moorpark, California-based entity revealed this total and other operational and financial results through its second-quarter 2016 earnings data.
From:: Financing
New quarterly business at United Guaranty rose by nearly half, while the unit’s income increased, its book of business grew and defaults declined.
Parent American International Group Inc. reported that it earned $2.9 billion from continuing operations before income taxes in the second quarter.
The details, as well as other operational and financial results, were provided in the New York-based company’s second-quarter 2016 earnings report.
From:: Financing
National Mortgage Insurance Corp. lifted grew its quarterly business and grew its book of business, while its parent company swung to a profit.
During the three-month period that came to a close on June 30, 2016, income before income taxes at the mortgage insurer came in at $2 million.
Details about the Emeryville, California-based organization’s results were included in parent NMI Holdings Inc.’s second-quarter earnings report.
From:: Financing
Nike Inc. said late Wednesday that it would no longer make golf equipment like clubs, balls and bags and will focus more on golf shoes and apparel. The company said it plans to partner with “more of the world’s best golfers” in the transition to solely making shoes and apparel for the sport. Declining interest in the golf has pressured equipment makers. Back in May, Adidas said it planned to divest its equipment brands. Nike shares rose 0.4% to $54.99 after hours.
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
Shares of TripAdvisor Inc. skidded in Wednesday’s extended session after the travel website posted quarterly results that missed Wall Street’s estimates. TripAdvisor reported its second-quarter earnings fell to $34 million, or 23 cents a share, from $58 million, or 40 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding items and charges, it would have earned 38 cents a share. Revenue fell 3% to $391 million and average monthly unique visitors totaled 350 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast adjusted earnings of 42 cents a share on revenue of $402 million. TripAdvisor sank more than 8% after hours.
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
21st Century Fox Inc. fluctuated between gains and losses in the extended session Wednesday after the media company’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings topped Wall Street estimates but revenue didn’t. 21st Century Fox shares were last up less than 0.1% at $27.05 after hours. The company reported adjusted earnings of 45 cents a share on revenue of $6.65 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of 37 cents a share on revenue of $6.68 billion. 21st Century Fox also announced a plan to buy back an additional $3 billion in shares and hiked the annual dividend by 6 cents a share to 36 cents a share.
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
Realtor.com® recently announced the launch of Yelp local amenity information and realtor.com® neighborhood trend data to help buyers get to know the community surrounding a potential new home.
Users can now view grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants, drug stores, gas stations, and insurance companies directly on the property listing map for all realtor.com® for-sale homes. Map pins include the business’s Yelp star rating to help potential buyers get a better understanding of the amenities in the area.
“Deciding on a potential neighborhood is often the first step in the home buying process,” says Ryan O’Hara, chief executive officer for realtor.com®. “With the help of Yelp, we’ve enhanced our local data to take the anxiety out of living in a new area. Buyers now know exactly how close the nearest grocery store or coffee shop is to a potential new home before they even attend a showing.”
Potential buyers can also now read up on the latest community statistics for more than 20,000 different cities on realtor.com® Local. A deeper understanding of a neighborhood’s median list prices, time on market and price per square foot can help consumers have more informed discussions with their agent and make educated purchase decisions.
O’Hara adds, “Adding an easy way for users to learn more about a specific community’s housing market helps us empower buyers on their journey to homeownership.”
For more information, visit www.realtor.com.
From:: Finance and Economy
Realtor.com® recently announced the launch of Yelp local amenity information and realtor.com® neighborhood trend data to help buyers get to know the community surrounding a potential new home.
Users can now view grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants, drug stores, gas stations, and insurance companies directly on the property listing map for all realtor.com® for-sale homes. Map pins include the business’s Yelp star rating to help potential buyers get a better understanding of the amenities in the area.
“Deciding on a potential neighborhood is often the first step in the home buying process,” says Ryan O’Hara, chief executive officer for realtor.com®. “With the help of Yelp, we’ve enhanced our local data to take the anxiety out of living in a new area. Buyers now know exactly how close the nearest grocery store or coffee shop is to a potential new home before they even attend a showing.”
Potential buyers can also now read up on the latest community statistics for more than 20,000 different cities on realtor.com® Local. A deeper understanding of a neighborhood’s median list prices, time on market and price per square foot can help consumers have more informed discussions with their agent and make educated purchase decisions.
O’Hara adds, “Adding an easy way for users to learn more about a specific community’s housing market helps us empower buyers on their journey to homeownership.”
For more information, visit www.realtor.com.
From:: Real Estate News
Businesses are at the mercy of hackers, sniffers, and the criminal element who are after your data. Many states have their own regulatory requirements, and this lacks uniformity and creates issues for those who do business across the United States. So what is next? Will we see uniformity in regulatory compliance for businesses across the country? H.R. 2205 is attempting to create business compliance, which will supersede the state regulations and protect consumer information.
H.R. 2205, or Data Security Act of 2015
Introduced on May 1st, 2015, the Data Security Bill of 2015 is a national consumer breach notification law. Today, 47 states, together with District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have individual regulations specifying when and how organizations should notify consumers in the event of an electronic data breach. The state regulations vary greatly in terms of the procedures which organizations need to follow, as well as consequences for non-compliance.
The goal of the new law is to supersede the existing state regulations by creating a single system coordinating the notification process. It establishes rules for handling consumer financial and sensitive personal data. The Federal Trade Commission will have the authority to enforce the law.
The bill must be passed by the House and the Senate, and then signed by the President, to become law.
Organizations Affected
The law will apply to any individual or organization which handles personal information of consumers, including retail, real estate, transportation, and other organizations.
Timing of the Bill
According to Consumer Reports, personal data of over 70 million Americans was compromised in 2014. Until now, the financial industry has carried the biggest burden of notifying consumers of security breaches. Such laws as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) of 2005 require financial organizations to establish reasonable procedures for preventing breaches, as well as informing consumers of compromised data.
According to the statement, recently issued by the American Bankers Association in the support of the Data Security Bill, they want a “shared responsibility” with other industries for security breaches.
Bill’s Controversy
Organizations in many industries have raised concerns about the bill. The National Association of Realtors® is concerned about the burden of the data protection standards, and the expansion of FTC’s authority. The Retail Industry Leaders Association claims that it will burden the retailers (especially smaller businesses), requiring them to conduct criminal background checks on their employees involved in handling consumer data.
Although there is some merit to all the concerns, protecting consumers from fraud, and minimizing the consequences of stolen data, should be more important than the inconvenience of the new proposed measures.
In addition, GLBA affects all financial organizations, including very small firms, and most have found reasonable ways to comply with the law. There are many products on the market which limit security breaches while being inexpensive to deploy.
How to Comply with Data Security Act of 2015
Once the bill becomes law, organizations will have to create a “comprehensive information security program.” Some of the steps involved include …read more
From:: Finance and Economy
Square Inc. shares jumped late Wednesday after the digital payments company raised its revenue guidance for the year. Square shares surged 9.2% to $11.40 in after-hours trading. The company forecast that adjusted full-year revenue will be between $655 million and $670 million, up from a previous range of $615 million to $635 million. An analyst survey by FactSet had produced a consensus estimate of $642.6 million. For the second quarter, Square reported a loss of 8 cents a share on adjusted revenue of $171 million. Analysts had estimated a loss of 3 cents a share on revenue of $157.8 million.
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