Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
Over the objections of consumer groups and liberal Democrats, legislation to provide regulatory relief to home lenders has made its way through the Senate.
By a vote of 67 to 31, S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, has been passed by the Senate.
The proposed law would roll back or reduce some of the requirements of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
From:: Financing
Supervalu Inc. shares rose more than 8% in late trading Wednesday after the company said it was selling its Farm Fresh Food & Pharmacy stores to other grocery chains as it focuses on its wholesale business instead of retail chains amid an activist-investor fight. The company said that it had agreed to sell 21 of its 38 Farm Fresh locations for about $43 million to grocery chains Harris Teeter, The Kroger Co. and Food Lion. Supervalu said it is continuing to discuss transactions for the other stores and is talking to companies and certain Farm Fresh employees about purchasing them. “Over the past two years, we’ve been working diligently and rapidly to transform our business to become the wholesale supplier of choice for grocery retailers across the United States,” Chief Executive Mark Gross said in Wednesday afternoon’s announcement, noting the company’s previous sale of the Save-A-Lot chain of stores and acquisitions of wholesale businesses. Supervalu stock gained about 8.5% in late trading after the deal was announced.
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From:: Stock Market News
A top lawyer with the Trump Organization worked on the case to silence former adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, the Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday, citing arbitration documents. The lawyer, Jill A. Martin, was listed as counsel in documents from Essential Consultants LLC, the shell company established by Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen in an agreement to pay Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence regarding an alleged 2006 sexual encounter between her and Donald Trump. Cohen has claimed he paid Clifford on his own, without Trump’s involvement. The documents are the first clear link between Trump’s company and the nondisclosure agreement. Cohen and the White House have denied there was an affair. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is currently trying to have the NDA ruled invalid so she can speak freely about the affair.
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From:: Stock Market News
U.S. tech companies could end up paying billions of dollars in new taxes under a plan the European Commission is considering, according to a report by the Financial Times late Wednesday. According to a draft report seen by the FT, a “digital tax” would be be assessed against companies’ revenues rather than profits. The tax, which the FT said was likely to be set at 3%, would apply to tech companies with more than 100,000 users in Europe, and cover everything from ad revenue from Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook Inc. to subscription fees for companies such as Apple Inc. and Spotify AB. The tax, which may be announced next week in Brussels, is estimated to raise about 5 billion euros a year, the FT reported. The tax is likely to face stiff opposition from U.S. tech groups, but a number of EU member states, such as the U.K., France and Germany, complain tech companies don’t pay their fair share in EU taxes.
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From:: Stock Market News
Earnings swung to a loss at Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc., and the company’s chief is out. Retail lending led a plunge in originations even as non-QM business soared.
The Irvine, California-based company revealed in its fourth-quarter 2017 earnings report that it suffered a $28 million loss before taxes.
Earnings swung from a $17 million profit in the final-three months of 2016 and a $4 million profit in the preceding three-month period.
From:: Financing
The Senate approved a bipartisan bill to roll bank some crisis-era banking regulations Wednesday. The bill would exempt many small and midsize banks from parts of the Dodd-Frank banking reform bill passed in 2010, following the financial crisis. The plan, which was sponsored by Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, passed 67-31, with the support of 17 centrist Democrats. Supporters say it would free smaller banks from burdensome rules and encourage more lending, while critics says it will hurt consumers and increase risk in the banking industry. The bill will now move to the House, where it is likely to face revisions that could delay its final passage.
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From:: Stock Market News
Sears Holdings Corp. shares rose 7.4% in the extended session Wednesday after the company reported earnings. The company reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $182 million, or $1.69 a share, compared with losses of $607 million, or $5.67 a share, in the year-ago period. Fourth quarter net income included a $470 million benefit due to the U.S. tax overhaul, and a $72 million charge related to the impairment of the Sears trade name. The company had previously guided for losses of $200 million to $300 million. Revenue fell to $4.38 billion from $6.05 billion in the year-ago period. Sears stock has dropped 73% in the past year, with the S&P 500 index rising 16%.
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From:: Stock Market News
Home lending activity turned lower at Churchill Mortgage Corp., as did headcount. The company has started reporting originations through the wholesale channel.
=The Brentwood, Tennessee-based company serviced three loans that collectively had an unpaid principal balance of $0.001 billion at the end of last year.
Churchill revealed the total, in addition to other operational metrics, as part of the Mortgage Daily Fourth Quarter 2017 Mortgage Origination Survey.
From:: Financing
Police in Evanston, Ill., have determined that the reported shooting incident at a Northwestern University graduate-student residence hall Wednesday afternoon was a “swatting” hoax. Such hoaxes typically center on an attempt among people connected via online groups or otherwise to outdo one another by drawing massive responses to fictitious reports of criminal activity. The university community had been notified just before 2:40 p.m. local time via text message and on Twitter that a person on campus was in possession of a gun. Recipients of the messages were advised to take shelter in a safe place and await further information and avoid the campus if not already on the premises. The Evanston Police Department said the department was investigating “shots fired” and later added that that it had not immediately located a perpetrator or victim or crime scene but that municipal and university police were continuing to search and secure the area. Just hours earlier, students across the country had participated in a nationwide walkout against gun violence to mark the passage of a month since the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
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From:: Stock Market News
Solid Biosciences Inc. shares plunged in the extended session Wednesday, following a halt, after the muscular dystrophy treatment maker announced a clinical trial had been put on hold. Solid Biosciences shares sank 50%, after closing down 0.5% at $26.31 Wednesday. The company, which focuses on treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, said a study of its treatment SGT-001 was placed on clinical hold by the Food and Drug Administration following an unexpected adverse reaction in one of the patients on the treatment. Following the treatment, the patient was hospitalized for a reduced blood platelet and red blood cell count, and is now without symptoms, Solid said. In late January, gene therapy researcher James Wilson quit Solid Biosciences’s advisory board and the company revealed the FDA had placed a “partial clinical hold” on the SGT-001 study just before Solid priced its initial public offering.
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From:: Stock Market News