For the second week in a row, the number of US mortgage applications rose, but the vast majority of the action came in refinancing, not new purchases. This spells continuing pressure on new home…
Dick Bove of Rochdale Securities spoke out this morning on CNBC saying that the “AAA” rating should not even apply to the U.S. when you include the $14.4 trillion that will grow to about…
The consensus among economists is that the Federal Reserve has run out of options to save the troubled American economy and collapsed stock markets. That may not be true, depending on how radically the…
Standard & Poor’s may have done the inevitable move of a U.S. credit ratings downgrade and it may have followed with the downgrade of the insurance companies and with many government agencies and dependent…
When your business hasn’t shown much sign of growth for several years running, maybe it’s time to change strategy. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has been trying to grow its business organically for about…
The S&P downgrade of the United States may have the investment community in a fuss, but many investors saw this coming long before. To say that investors will not see a knee-jerk reaction in…
American International Group (NYSE: AIG) will sue Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) for $10 billion because the insurance company claims the big bank misrepresented the risks of mortgage-backed paper. The legal action further muddies…
If you can count on one thing from Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) any longer, it is for him to stay very positive and upbeat about the long-term prospects of the…
The headlines might seem shocking when you see that Standard & Poor’s has downgraded the United States’ credit rating to “AA+” from what was the sacred “AAA” rating. This rumor was out today, but…
The floor for interest rates is ZERO. Right? Apparently not when extreme conditions arise. Those extreme conditions came today as investors moved solidly into the safety of very short-dated T-bills and the bidding was…
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) has sold off enough! That is what the company CEO is saying, and he’s putting his money where is mouth is. A Form-4 SEC filing this morning shows that James…
The media keeps pointing to a double-dip recession. It is such a commonly used term that no one even cares that this is technically just the starting point of the next recession. Terms do…
The Japanese Yen took a breather today on some similar news that we saw last week regarding intervention. The Nikkei News reported this afternoon that Japan was about to intervene to keep from further…
The recession is supposed to be over, or at least the part during which joblessness grew. HSBC (NYSE: HBC) offered another example that is not the case. It will cut 30,000 people over the…
Earnings season is so far turning out to be a mixed bag and is so far being overshadowed by the elected officials in Washington D.C. threatening a gridlock that could ultimately result in a…