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Personal Finance and Retirement Archives

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Shootout at the Sub Prime Corral - 2007-08-30
As if shedding nearly 40,000 jobs over the last eight months weren't quite bad enough, in some ways the mortgage industry's troubles have really just begun. The next blow, it seems, promises to come at the hands of the nation's politicians.

Like Lemmings Off a Cliff - 2007-08-16
With so many lenders tumbling into the abyss these days, it's hard not to be reminded of that footage of a whole herd of lemmings jumping off a cliff. (Myth or no myth) I mean how else you can possibly characterize the ruin of so many financial institutions in so little time?

Surgical Robot Primed to Deliver 284% Returns in Two Years - 2007-08-13
Of all of the problems to have in this world, a falling stock market is really nothing compared to the troubles of being diagnosed with cancer.

Bankruptcy Rumor Crashes Beazer - 2007-08-02
True or not, rumors definitely have power, and the ongoing mortgage morass has produced them by the barrel-full lately. Unfortunately, in this case Churchill would be wildly off of the mark. Within the pain of the housing bubble, it seems, most of them--not just half--eventually turn out to be true.

Fannie and Freddie Drop the Bomb - 2007-07-19
As we have said so many times before in these pages, watching the government do practically anything is akin to watching molasses run down he hill in January. But as slow as that bureaucratic morass is, when it finally does manage to make a decision with some real weight, it comes crashing down like a massive hammer.

The Contagion is Spreading - 2007-07-05
After bubbling beneath the surface since last February, the absolute rot that is sub-prime lending reared its ugly head again last week. But this time it wasn’t just the stories of failing lenders like New Century and others that roiled the markets, it was much further up the ladder. The contagion is spreading after all.

The Most Dangerous Man in China - 2007-06-21
It will come as no surprise that the military planners deep within the Pentagon continue to wrestle with the growing threats posed by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. But the biggest risk to America might not be an old red General bent on invading Taiwan, but an economic technocrat. His name is Lou Jiwei, and in many ways he’s the most dangerous man in China--especially if you are in the market for a mortgage.

Your FICO Score on Steroids - 2007-06-07
As Barry Bonds continues to assault the home run mark established by Hank Aaron in 1976, I’m reminded of the last great home run record to fall. That was in 1998 as Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa dueled it out over the course of a long hot summer to see who could top Roger Maris’s magical record of 60 home runs in a season.

The Blame Game Has Begun - 2007-05-24
As the housing market continues to plummet and the mortgage morass delivers one borrower after another into the pit of foreclosure, the blame game has begun in earnest.

The Lender and the Louisville Slugger - 2007-05-10
Now that New Century Financial has finally crashed and burned like the Hindenburg, the gory details of its fatal business practices have begun to make their way into the light of day. And it’s about what you would expect.

Say it Ain't So, Angelo Mozilo - 2007-04-26
Even now, Angelo Mozilo cries bloody murder as the various branches of the government ponder how to fix the problems that he and his mortgage buddies created.

Silent Spring - 2007-04-12
Despite the incoherent tweets of a few remaining housing bulls, the much-anticipated spring selling season has largely come and gone without so much as a peep. The only noise left, it seems, is the chirping of the crickets.

House of Cards - 2007-03-29
The rickety house of cards that Alan Greenspan and his mortgage buddies built--one bad loan at a time--took another hit this week. New home sales plummeted 4% in February to their slowest pace in more than six years.

Home Builder Stock Outlook - 2007-03-15
Wealth Daily Editor Steve Christ take tackles the outlook for home builder stocks for 2007 and 2008.

The Sub-Prime Inferno - 2007-03-02
What started as a mere brush fire in the sub-prime mortgage market has now quickly turned into a five-alarm blaze. Fed by tinder-dry bundles of risky loans, the fire has now singed the fingers of investors and lenders alike on one bad deal after another, as the notices of defaults begin to pile up in mailboxes around the country at a record pace.

In the Crosshairs - Bankers Called Before Congress - 2007-02-15
Amy Womble's story is a sad one and unfortunately it is all too common. In fact, it has become so common that Congressional hearings have been convened because of it.

The Devil is in the Details - 2007-02-08
When it comes to mortgage finance, the devil is definitely in the details. And those hard-to-read disclosures that are sprinkled throughout your loan application spells them all out just like they are required to do.

David Lereah's Last Wish - 2007-02-01
David Lereah could use a rabbit's foot or two. Or perhaps he ought to consider combing through the grass in search of a four-leafed clover. Either way, he could use all the help he can get.

The Home Building Slowdown - 2007-01-25
The madness of the nation's housing bulls reached new highs this week as they continued to chortle that the show must go on. Desperate for fresh evidence that the boom still has legs, they even stooped so low to quote a government report, of all things.

Study Finds Homes to be Unaffordable in Most U.S. Metro Areas - 2007-01-18
During the bubblicious frenzy, the mantra of the real-estate crowd was as simple. Housing, they said, was nothing like stocks. And in a certain respect they were right. Because although I have never heard of anyone who had to qualify to by equities, everyone that I know of had to get a loan to buy a house.

What Your Loan Officer Doesn't Want You to Know - 2007-01-11
Just for laughs, ask your mortgage broker what the yield spread premium (YSP) is on the loan he is doing for you and watch him squirm. Or better yet, go over some of your old settlement statements and see exactly how much money your broker may have made on your last loan without your knowing it.

A Not so Happy New Year: Another Sub-Prime Lender Cuts its Workforce - 2007-01-04
The New Year got off to rough start for the employees of Mortgage Lender’s Network (MLN) yesterday, when the Connecticut-based sub-prime lender announced that it was no longer in the business of funding or originating loans.

Regulators Order Fannie and Freddie to Comply with New Guidelines - 2006-12-28
Watching the government do practically anything is often akin to watching molasses run down the hill in January. But like that slow running ooze it eventually manages to accomplish its feat. Nowhere has this been more apparent than in its attempts to rein in the mortgage industry.

Study Projects 2.2 Million Sub-Prime Borrowers to Lose Homes - 2006-12-21
In a 58-page study released yesterday, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) predicts that some 2.2 million sub-prime borrowers will lose their homes to foreclosure in the coming years, forfeiting over $164 billion in household wealth in the process.

One Way Off the Hook - 2006-12-14
The latest foreclosure figures were released yesterday, and in a word they were ugly. According to RealtyTrac, the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, another 120,334 properties nationwide entered some form of foreclosure during the month of November.

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