Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
Since getting its start back in 2012, mortgage technology provider Blend has been a key player in bringing the mortgage industry into the digital world. And thanks to a recently announced $100 million in funding, the San Francisco-based company has a great runway for even more growth. Here’s what Nima Ghamsari, CEO and founder at Blend, sees ahead for the company. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
New home-lending activity turned solidly higher this past week, and it was government mortgage programs that saw the biggest week-over-week gain.
An indication of upcoming single-family loan originations, the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from Mortgage Daily, was 160 in the week ended Aug. 25.
The index, which is based on rate-lock volume at OpenClose, increased 9 percent from the preceding seven-day period. No seasonal adjustments are made to the numbers.
From:: Financing
Hurricane Harvey is approaching the Texas coast and is expected to make landfall with full force late Friday night. The storm could leave the area uninhabitable for months, and the housing industry is already gearing up to help. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Jet Direct Mortgage, a consumer direct lender based in New York, announced this week that it is expanding into wholesale lending with the launch of Jet Direct Funding. In a release, the company said that it recently completed a “successful” testing period for its wholesale channel and is now accepting mortgage broker applications. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Despite seemingly overwhelming rumors about Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray’s supposed intention to step down and run for governor of Ohio, thus far, Cordray has done nothing one way or the other to stamp out the rumors about his future. And according to the Consumer Bankers Association, it’s long past time for Cordray to put the rumors to rest, one way or the other. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
U.S. stock benchmarks finished with slight gains Friday, halting weekly skids as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen delivered speeches at Jackson Hole, Wyo. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 30.37 points, or 0.1%, at 21,813.67 Dow components Boeing Co. and Intel Corp. limited gains for blue chips. The S&P 500 index advanced 4.08 points, or 0.2%, at 2,443.05, while the Nasdaq Composite Index finished lower, down 5.68 points, or less than 0.1%, at 6,265.64. Still, the technology laden gauge halted a dubious streak of four consecutive weekly declines, with a roughly 0.8% gain. For the week, the Dow gained 0.6%, while the S&P 500 enjoyed a 0.7% return, with both benchmarks ending two straight weeks of declines. Earlier in the session, Yellen said the economy was stabilizing but made no specific remarks about monetary policy during her speech at the gathering of central bankers in Wyoming. Later Friday, Draghi said recoveries taking place in global economies are firming, though he said it was “at an earlier stage” in Europe and Japan. His remarks were interpreted as hawkish by investors, sending the euro surging against the dollar up at $1.1925, compared to $1.18 late Thursday in New York. U.S. equity markets, meanwhile, were given an early boost on the back of the possibility of tax reform following remarks made by Gary Cohn, the president’s economic adviser. During a interview with the Financial Times he said the president was focused on getting tax reform done by the end of 2017. Tax cuts and other fiscal stimulus measures had been part of catalyst for stocks’s rise to records after Trump’s election victory in November. In that interview, Cohn also said he seriously considered resigning in response to Trump’s reaction to a Charlottesville, Va., white-supremacist rally, however, the adviser and former Goldman Sachs executive decided against leaving. In other news, investors watched developments in the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Harvey was upgraded to a Category 3 storm. In corporate news, Ulta Beauty Inc. shares dropped 9% after the retailer’s results late Thursday showed second-quarter sales growth slowed. Check out a live blog of the Jackson Hole symposium here.
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
An established retail home lender operating from New York state has launched a wholesale division to do business with mortgage brokers.
Jet Direct Mortgage, which is based in Bay Shore, New York, bills itself as a full-service direct lender that provides a wide range of loan products and services.
Jet Direct reports that it is licensed to do business in 11 states including the Empire State. Most of the states are in the eastern half of the country.
From:: Financing
The euro jumped against the U.S. dollar on the back of European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s speech at Jackson Hole, Wyo. The eurozone currency surged and remains up 1% versus the dollar at $1.1922 in the aftermath of Draghi’s speech. The euro reached its highest level since January 2015. The euro began to strengthen earlier after the speech from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen disappointed markets. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index dropped 0.8% to 92.5080, also its lowest level since January 2015, before rebounding slightly to 92.5420. The British pound held on to its gains against the dollar from earlier at $1.2884, up 0.6% from Thursday.
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
U.S. stock benchmarks were trading higher Friday afternoon, and looked set to book weekly advances as Mario Draghi delivered a highly anticipated speech at Jackson Hole, Wyo. Although Draghi didn’t offer clues about monetary policy, he did say that recoveries taking place in global economies are firming, though he said it was “at an earlier stage” in Europe and Japan. The statement was enough to send the euro surging against the dollar up at $1.1925, compared to $1.18 late Thursday in New York. U.S. equity markets, meanwhile, climbed and have traded higher throughout the session on the back of the possibility of tax reform following remarks made by Gary Cohn, the president’s economic adviser. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 61 points, or 0.3%, at 21,847. Dow components Boeing Co. and Intel Corp. were helping to limit gains for blue chips. The S&P 500 index climbed 8 points, or 0.3%, at 2,446, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was flat at 6,271. Still, the technology laden gauge was on track to halt a dubious streak of four consecutive weekly declines, with a roughly 1% gain. Earlier in the session, Federal Reserve Chairwoman Yellen said that the economy was stabilizing but made no specific remarks about monetary policy during her speech at the gathering of central bankers in Wyoming. Meanwhile, investors were also Cohn’s interview with the Financial Times, where he said the president was focused on getting tax reform done by the end of 2017. Tax cuts and other fiscal stimulus measures had been part of catalyst for stocks’s rise to records after Trump’s election victory in November. In that interview, Cohn also said he seriously considered resigning in response to Trump’s reaction to a Charlottesville, Va., white-supremacist rally, however, the adviser and former Goldman Sachs executive decided against leaving. In other news, investors may also be watching developments in the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Harvey was upgraded to a Category 3 storm. In corporate news, Ulta Beauty Inc. shares dropped 9% after the retailer’s results late Thursday showed second-quarter sales growth slowed. Check out a live blog of the Jackson Hole symposium here.
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
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi warned Friday a drift toward protectionism is a serious risk to the global economy. In a speech at the Federal Reserve’s summer retreat in Jackson Hole, Draghi said that multilateral cooperation was crucial in making free trade sustainable. Cooperation across borders can help policymakers respond to the backlash against free trade that stems from legitimate concern for fairness, safety and equity, he said. Draghi did not discuss the ECB’s bond-buying program in his prepared remarks. There had been expectations earlier in the month that the ECB president would use Jackson Hole to signal an end to the asset purchases by the end of the year.
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