http://www.mortgageratesetc.com Mortgage Rates Etc. - perfect place for all of your financial needs. Thu, 01 May 2008 20:29:42 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Countrywide Financial Corporation logged in on Tuesday with its third consecutive quarterly loss due to a sharp increase it its provision for loan losses. Countrywide reported that it lost $893 million or $1.60 per share during the first quarter of 2008. One year ago the quarterly earnings ... http://www.mortgageratesetc.com/2008/04/29/another-loss-for-countrywide-as-bank-of-america-plans-for-future/ The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to 62.3 in April's report on Tuesday, confirming declines seen earlier in the month from other measures of consumer sentiment, yet coming in slightly higher than the consensus expectation of 62.0. The previous month's reading of 64.0 was revised upwards ... http://www.mortgageratesetc.com/2008/04/29/consumer-confidence-falls-less-than-expected-in-april/ Speaking in an interview with Fox Business news on Monday evening, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he did not believe that a second fiscal stimulus package was necessary and that the tax rebates mailed out yesterday would make a real difference to GDP. With core ... http://www.mortgageratesetc.com/2008/04/29/no-need-for-second-stimulus-package/ The S&P Case-Shiller home price index continued its sharp decline in February as both the 10-city and 20-city composite indexes posted record annual declines in excess of 12.5%. The 20-city composite index, which tracks the price path of typical single-family homes in 20 metropolitan areas, fell by ... http://www.mortgageratesetc.com/2008/04/29/home-prices-slide-in-february-/ Progress on the U.S. economic slowdown and housing sector have been encouraging, according to U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Robert Steel, speaking to Society of American Business Editors and Writers Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. "Our economy today has slowed after a period of very strong economic growth. Just ... http://www.mortgageratesetc.com/2008/04/28/treasury-undersecretary-steel-sees-good-progress-in-economic-rec/ National vacancy rates in the first quarter of 2008 were 10.1% for rental housing, up from 9.6% in the fourth quarter of 2007, and 2.9% for homeowner housing this quarter, compared to 2.8% in the previous quarter, according to a report from the Census Bureau on ... http://www.mortgageratesetc.com/2008/04/28/first-quarter-vacancy-rates-rise-/ Wachovia Corporation, the rising Charlotte North Carolina banking star is having a very bad April. On April 14 the bank announced it had lost $350 million or $0.20 per share during the first quarter of 2008. The losses, which were much higher than had been expected, were ... http://www.mortgageratesetc.com/2008/04/28/wachovia-settles-one-suit-confronts-money-laundering-charges/ M1 Money Supply fell $2.4 billion in the week ending April 14, while M2 fell $15 billion, according to figures released from the Federal Reserve Thursday. The Fed's Treasury holdings rose $29 million to $548.7 billion in the week. Borrowing by securities firms fell $2.2 billion from ... http://www.mortgageratesetc.com/2008/04/25/us-m1-and-m2-money-supplies-fall-in-week-ending-april-14/ New home sales in the U.S. were down for the fifth consecutive month in March, falling by 8.5% to 526k, much lower than the 580k level expected by economists, and setting a new low since October 1991. Inventories soared from already-worrying levels. This follows a downwardly revised ... http://www.mortgageratesetc.com/2008/04/24/us-new-homes-sales-plummet-85-in-march-to-lowest-level-since-199/ Expectations for a pause in U.S. monetary policy were bolstered by an article in Thursday's Wall Street Journal, where noted Fed watcher Greg Ip said, "The Federal Reserve is likely to cut its short-term interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point next week -- ... http://www.mortgageratesetc.com/2008/04/24/fed-may-take-breather-after-cut-next-week/