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“Several Federal Home Loan Banks violated regulatory credit limits in 2010 and 2011, even as the risks associated with doing so intensified, according to a recent federal investigation. The Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General found that FHLBanks substantially increased unsecured lending to foreign financial institutions despite indications of heightened risks.”
“If you have been reading my articles, you should be aware of the bizarre application of the federal estate tax over the past twelve years. Depending on a person’s year of death estate tax liability could vary wildly from 0 to 55%, nothing to $10s of millions of dollars or more of estate tax liability.”
“The number of applications for unemployment benefits hovered last week near the highest level of the year, showing little improvement in the U.S. labor market. Jobless claims decreased by 6,000 to 386,000 in the week ended June 23, in line with the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, Labor Department figures showed Thursday in Washington. The prior week’s reading was revised up to 392,000 from 387,000, matching an April figure as the steepest of 2012.”
“Farmers nationwide have planted 96.4 million acres of corn, up 5 percent from last year, making it the highest corn acreage in the last 75 years, according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. This marks the fourth year in a row of increases in corn acreage in the United States.”
“There were 63,000 completed foreclosures in the U.S. in May 2012 compared to 77,000 in May 2011 and 62,000 in April 2012, according to a report Friday from financial information company CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX) of Santa Ana.”
“More Americans are getting reverse mortgages — and that’s not a good thing, according the government’s consumer finance watchdog. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in a report released Thursday that reverse mortgages are not being used as Congress intended. It also warned that the program could cost some seniors extra cash or even their homes.”
“Homelessness has been on the rise in America’s cities since the start of recession, but it’s not for lack of housing. According to some reports, there are now an estimated five vacant properties for every homeless person in the U.S., many left empty as the result of the foreclosure crisis.”
“Developing and reporting property values more accurately is critical to improving market performance, reducing risk and strengthening the housing finance system, according to the National Association of Realtors®. That was the message delivered today by Frank Gregoire, immediate past chair of NAR’s Real Property Valuation Committee, in testimony before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Involvement regarding appraisal oversight”
“Even as markets cheered the agreement by European leaders to allow the direct use of the bloc’s bailout funds to recapitalize struggling banks, well-known investor Jim Rogers told CNBC the move does nothing to help solve the region’s biggest problem, which is its high debt levels. “Just because now you have a way to get them (the banks) to borrow even more money, this is not solving the problem, this is making the problem worse,” Rogers said on Friday.”
“Global investment banks are bracing themselves for a dismal second half, with further cuts in costs and staff, after a sharp drop in dealmaking and capital markets activity pushed down fees in the second quarter to their worst level in three years.”
Get on The Real Estate Love Train with Uncle Tony! |
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