Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Palm Citys Horse Talk: Just Listed In Western Ft. Pierce this Country Home

Palm Citys Horse Talk: Just Listed In Western Ft. Pierce this Country Home

PALM CITYS HORSE TALK

Just Listed In Western Ft. Pierce this Country Home

PALM CITYS HORSE TALK

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Our Economy For the Past Week

PALM CITYS HORSE TALK



San Antonio Drive, Stuart West, Palm City, Fl Lot for Sale

WHAT IS GOING ON WITH OUR ECONOMY?

OVERVIEW ~ October 4 through October 8 ~ From its 2.528% opening level, the 10-year Treasury note edged still lower, ending at 2.382%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), meanwhile, climbed from 10829.68 to the 11,000 mark, ending the week at 11,006.49. Both benefited from announcements that the Federal Reserve is likely to initiate further quantitative easing in the near term. The euro, again with investors worried about the Fed’s quantitative easing that could further weaken the dollar, rose against the dollar slightly. And gold continued to climb, reaching slightly above $1350 by the end of the week. The average 30-year fixed rate for Freddie Mac, fell 5 basis points to 4.27%, and the HSH Associates computation (which includes jumbo rates) declined from 4.75% to 4.66%.




FOCUS ~ What is QE2? “QE2” stands for the second major phase of the Federal Reserve’s “Quantitative Easing.” And “quantitative easing” is a group of measures the Fed can take to keep interest rates low or make them even lower and, quite possibly, to raise the level of inflation slightly.



Having pushed the fed funds rate to a range of 0% to 0.25%, the Fed really doesn’t have this tool at its disposal; it can’t lower this rate further. So it must call upon other ways of keeping rates low.



The most-discussed option is for the Federal Reserve to buy up Treasury securities, making it certain that there will be plenty of buying pressure for the securities. That will translate into higher value for the securities, which in turn means their yields will be even lower.



There are positives and negatives with this option. It usually reduces the value of our currency, meaning the dollar’s exchange rate falls relative to the exchange rate of other currencies. As a result, for the holders of the other currencies, this can mean that their dollar-denominated investments lose a bit of value (a negative, since it decreases their yield) and that the lower value of the dollar means an effectively lower price for our exports (a benefit to the U.S. because we can sell more exports if our price declines).



Indeed, there is much discussion currently about how several nations, including the U.S., are handling their currencies, specifically trying to push their exchange values lower in order to give their own exports a pricing edge. Still, the DJIA’s levels have often risen and interest rates fallen when the Fed discusses a likely QE2.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The Foreclosure Events of today

PALM CITYS HORSE TALK

Foreclosure wheels begin to turn again for Bank of America, GMAC
NEW YORK – Oct. 19, 2010 – Bank of America and Ally Financial’s GMAC Mortgage have begun to lift their freezes on more than 100,000 foreclosure cases in Florida and other states, saying they’re not finding flaws in their paperwork.

Late Monday, Bank of America issued a statement saying that it expects to begin going back next week to courts in the 23 states where foreclosures are a judicial process, including Florida. A statement from spokesman Dan Frahm said the lender is preparing to re-submit documents in 102,000 foreclosure cases already underway.

Also Monday, Ally Financial spokesman James Olecki confirmed that GMAC is re-submitting documents in some foreclosure cases including at least one in Florida “as each of those files is reviewed and remediated when needed.”

Among major lenders, Bank of America had called a halt to all foreclosure sales nationwide. It also, along with GMAC, JPMorgan Chase and PNC Financial Services, initiated reviews in the 23 judicial foreclosure states. Bank of America later extended its review nationwide. Wells Fargo did not undertake a review of its procedures.

Major lenders in September began announcing halts to all or parts of their foreclosure processes, after revelations – in sworn statements submitted in lawsuits in which homeowners are fighting foreclosures – showing that employees or representatives failed to verify mortgage paperwork before submitting foreclosure cases to courts.

The so-called “robo-signers” said, under oath, that they handled thousands of documents each month without knowing whether they were accurate, as required by court procedure.

The GMAC and Chase documents surfaced in Palm Beach County cases that are still going through the courts.

On Monday, Bank of America said its “initial assessment findings” have shown “the basis for our foreclosure decisions is accurate.”

GMAC’s Olecki wrote in an e-mail, “Again, we have been in the midst of a review for approximately two months and have found no evidence of any inappropriate foreclosures to date.”

A spokesman for PNC Financial said the lender hasn’t changed its position on reviewing foreclosure documents. A spokesman for JPMorgan Chase repeated the bank’s intention to review about 115,000 foreclosure files and delay foreclosure sales.

Monday’s developments won’t speed the foreclosure process in Florida’s overburdened courts, said Alexander Fernandez, director of homeownership preservation for Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida. He noted there are more than 50,000 cases in Broward County alone that are still pending. And renewed cases, he said, would probably go to the back of the line.

Foreclosure defense attorneys questioned how the process can be re-started. “Do they simply get to resubmit the document and go on like nothing happened?” said Matthew Weidner, a St. Petersburg foreclosure defense attorney.

Beyond Florida, Bank of America said it would continue its halt of foreclosure sales in the 27 states that do not handle foreclosures through the judicial system.

Copyright © 2010 Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Harriet Johnson Brackey. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.