Wells Fargo’s stock takes a dive after news that unauthorized accounts created could be more than expected

Wells Fargo & Co.’s stock took a dive in afternoon trade Friday, after the bank disclosed that the number of authorized accounts created during the customer account scandal could be a lot higher than previously thought. The stock was down about 0.2% a little after 2:00 p.m. ET, then tumbled to be down as much as 2.8%, before recovering slightly to be down 1.1% in recent trade. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the bank stated that a review of sales practices, which is expected to completed by the end of the third quarter, “may lead to a significant increase in the identified number of potentially unauthorized accounts.” Wells Fargo said it expanded the review period to January 2011 through September 2016 from May 2011 to mid-2015, and will perform a voluntary review of accounts from 2009 to 2010. The bank also disclosed that the board of directors is reviewing its structure, composition and practices, and will announce actions to take in the third quarter. The stock has lost 4.2% year to date, while the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF has climbed 9.1% and the S&P 500 has gained 10.5%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Oil settles higher, but post weekly decline, ahead of OPEC compliance confab

Oil futures finished the session sharply higher on Friday, but booked a weekly loss, as investors focused on a decline in rigs drilling for oil against a coming OPEC meeting to assess compliance of to an agreement to check global production and stabilize crude prices. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in September advanced 55 cents, or 1.1%, at $49.58. However for the week, crude prices finished about 0.4% lower, according to FactSet data. Crude prices added to earlier gains after a report at 1 p.m. Eastern showed that overall U.S. rig counts pulled back for the week, helping to support gains in crude-oil prices on Friday. The number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil fell by 1 to 765 rigs this week, while those drilling for gas declined by 3 to 189, bringing the overall oil-and-gas count to 954 for the week, according to Baker Hughes. Oil had been on the rise after an upbeat reading of U.S. employment showed that 209,000 jobs were created in July, with the unemployment rate falling to a 16-year low at 4.3%. Strong U.S. jobs can suggest impending demand for crude, lifting prices. Looking ahead, investors will be focused on a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to discuss compliance to agreed upon global production limits that run through March 2018. The meeting is set for set for Aug. 7-8 in Abu Dhabi.

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From:: Stock Market News

Flow Sale of MSRs on Nearly $50 Billion in Loans

A flow-purchase agreement has been negotiated that could work out to the sale of mortgage-servicing rights on nearly $50 billion in conventional home loans.

The transaction was announced by Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment Corp., a real estate finance company that invests in and manages residential loan assets.

The Moorestown, New Jersey-based company said it has entered a purchase-and-sale agreement for flow purchases of MSRs on up to $2 billion per month in conventional mortgages.


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From:: Financing

SoFi to finally file for IPO?

Social Finance, better known as SoFi, first teased it would file for an initial public offering nearly three years ago. But this never came into fruition after the online peer-to-peer lender raised $1 billion from investors. But not so fast. Now, three years after it first mentioned a possible IPO, SoFi CEO Mike Cagney appears to be interested in filing for an IPO again. …read more

From:: Real Estate Wire

Wells Fargo Settles VA Mortgage Lawsuit

Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to settle allegations that it originated government-guaranteed loans for veterans that should not have been made.

The San Francisco-based bank-holding company issued a statement Thursday saying the agreement settles a lawsuit originally filed in 2006.

At issue are Department of Veterans Affairs Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loans originated by Wells Fargo that shouldn’t have been eligible for VA guarantees because of certain fees charged to the borrowers at origination.


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From:: Financing

Gold price ends day, week lower, as dollar surges on July jobs report

Gold futures settled firmly lower on Friday as the dollar jumped after a key report on payrolls in July showed stronger-than-expected job creation. December gold fell $9.80 , or 0.8%, to finish the session at $1,264.60 an ounce. A gauge of the U.S. dollar, the U.S. ICE Dollar Index rose 0.8%, coming off a 15-month low, and weighing on commodities, like gold, priced in the currency. The moves came after a report from the Labor Department showed that the U.S. added a better-than-expected 209,000 new jobs in July, more than most economists were banking on. The unemployment rate fell back to a 16-year low of 4.3%. The labor report underlined what has been a healthy pace of job growth, but also may offer the Federal Reserve little cause to delay lifting interest rates as it seeks to normalize monetary policy. The one-two punch of higher rates and a stronger greenback can serve as a headwind to assets like gold that don’t bear a yield. For the week, the buck finished down 0.4%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Trivago’s stock plunges on heavy volume after surprise loss reported

Shares of Trivago N.V. tumbled 24% on heavy volume in afternoon trade Friday, after the Germany-based hotel booking site reported a surprise second-quarter loss amid increased marketing spend. Volume ballooned to over 6.2 million shares, compared with the full-day average of about 1.2 million shares. The company reported a U.S. dollar equivalent loss of a penny a share, compared with consensus analyst expectations for a breakeven quarter, according to FactSet. Analyst Shyam Patel at Susquehanna Financial cut his stock price target to $21 from $23, citing a lower outlook for 2018 after management said it continued to expect revenue growth to decelerate. “We continue to like Trivago, given its leadership position in the hotel metasearch space, large runway for growth and ability to sclare margins over time,” Patel wrote in a note to clients. But given concerns over valuation, Patel kept the rating at neutral. The stock, which went public on Dec. 16, 2016, was still trading 49% above its $11 IPO price. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 has gained 9.5% over the same time.

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From:: Stock Market News

Oil prices extend gains after rig counts fall, according to Baker Hughes

Overall U.S. rig counts pulled back for the week, helping to support gains in crude-oil prices on Friday. The number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil fell by 1 to 765 rigs this week, while those drilling for gas declined by 3 to 189, bringing the overall oil-and-gas count to 954 for the week, according to Baker Hughes. September West Texas Intermediate crude rose 35 cents, or 0.7%, at $49.37 a barrel, ticking slightly higher after the rig-count data were released. Falling rig counts may ease some of the worries that U.S. shale drillers are undercutting a global agreement led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut global production and lift crude prices off historic lows. U.s. oil producers have been cited as the biggest headwind to such efforts.

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.

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From:: Stock Market News

Single-Family Business Grows at Citizens Bank

Company-wide and mortgage earnings improved at Citizens Financial Group Inc. Residential servicing and assets expanded, while originations had a quarter-over-quarter gain.

Prior to income tax expense, the Providence, Rhode Island-based bank-holding company earned $462 million in the three months ended June 30, its second-quarter results indicate.

Income exceeded the $361 million earned in the same-three months last year and also improved from $434 million in the first-quarter of this year.


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From:: Financing