Speaking before the Senate Banking Committee in Washington, D.C., Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn warned that banks need to strengthen reserves in order to improve liquidity.
Kohn told the committee that bank reserves have not kept up with rising problems and that the problems may extend to consumer loans...
Mortgage delinquencies for U.S. homes in the first quarter of 2008 jumped 53 basis points from the previous quarter to 6.35% of all loans outstanding, marking a 29-year high, according to the MBA's National Delinquency Survey released Thursday.
From one year ago, delinquency rates have risen 151 basis points.
This is the highest rate ever recorded in the index, which began in...
The Bank of England and European Central Bank rate decisions will highlight the European economic news as American markets will receive initial jobless claims and some Fed-speak. In Canada, markets are preparing for building permits and the Ivey PMI for May.
Speaking at a Harvard commencement address, Bernanke said overall inflation is significantly higher than he would like, but less than the 1970s-style stagflation.
The overall inflation rate has averaged about 3.5% over the past four quarters, significantly higher than we would like but much less than the double-digit rates that inflation reached in the mid-1970s and then again in 1980," Bernanke said in his prepared remarks.
U.S. bond insurers may lose their top credit ratings because of diminishing new business and financial inflexibility, Moody's said on Wednesday.
The ratings agency put MBIA and Ambac, the two biggest bond insurers, on review for a possible downgrade. The two U.S.- based companies were founded to insure municipal bonds but became heavily involved in insuring mortgage debt.
According to The New York Times, three of the nation's largest credit rating firms are close to an agreement with the New York attorney general to change some of their core business practices which had brought them under his office's scrutiny.
The ratings firms will also assist Cuomo in his larger investigation into how mortgages were packaged into securities.
Speaking at a conference organized by the International Monetary Committee on Tuesday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa agreed that persistent inflation pressures were one of the risks being faced by central banks.
Bernanke also said the Fed has cut rates "substantially and proactively" and that the Fed's commitment to its dual mandate will be key to ensuring the U.S. dollar remains strong and stable.
Tighter credit and defaults are expected to have a greater effect in 2008 than they did last year, a survey of businesses in 14 countries affected by the fallout found.
Businesses expect slower growth and growing defaults in the remainder of the year and into 2009, the survey sponsored by Atradius reported.
"While it seems natural to adjust your credit extension practices in the face of a deteriorating credit environment, there is...
There have been two shifts in the leadership of major banks marking further casualties in the on-going housing - mortgage - credit - foreclosure crisis. There were two other developments in the fortunes of an investment bank and a home builder that show that the situation is far from stable.
The U.S. Census Bureau factory orders report surprised to the upside on Tuesday, increasing by 1.1% in April to contribute to an annual gain of 3.8%. The prior month's factory orders index was revised to show an increase of 1.5% from the previously reported 1.4% gain.
Economists were expecting a loss of 0.1% in the month.
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