Economy/Ecommerce
Economy Watch: Bank of America to Pay $8B to Settle Countrywide Claims
BofA will pay $8.5 billion to aggrieved mortgage-backed bondholders sold by Countrywide; owning a home is still part of the American dream; and pending home sales were up last month.
Economy Watch: Case-Shiller Index Sees Surprise Uptick, but Is It Meaningful?
The Case-Shiller 20-city index went up in April; consumer confidence went down in May; and the number of mortgage loan fraud reports went up in the first quarter.
Economy Watch: Gas Prices and Nervousness Constrain Consumer Spending in May
Consumer spending wasn’t any better in May than it was in April; income barely rose in May; and financiers in Europe are reportedly receptive to a suggestion that much of the Greek debt be rolled over by private creditors.
Economy Watch: Greek Parliament Debates More Austerity
The Greek parliament debates austerity measures needed to receive more bailout money; Freddie Mac reports that mortgage delinquencies are down; and U.S. GDP growth decelerates.
PODCAST: Economy Watch Weekly with Dees Stribling
For the week ending June 24, uncertainty colors the Fed’s diagnosis of the U.S. economy; Greece gets set to vote on austerity measures that could earn it more money from the E.U. and IMF; and governments release small amounts of crude oil reserves to the open market.
Economy Watch: New Home Sales Take a Dip in May
New home sales dropped 2.1 percent in May; the United States is tapping emergency stockpiles of crude oil and selling it on the open market; and the congressional impasse over the debt ceiling returns.
Economy Watch: No QE3 from Fed, Even in Face of Slow Growth
Despite weak market growth, Bernanke says there will be no QE3; Moody’s/REAL Commercial Property Price Index drops 3.7 percent; and the FHFA’s house price index inches upward.
Economy Watch: U.S. Home Sales Head for the Cellar
NAR reports that home sales hit a low for 2011 in May; HUD approves a program designed to help unemployed homeowners pay their mortgages; and Greece is looking at bailouts coupled with austerity.
Economy Watch: IMF to Greeks: More Austerity or Else
The IMF warns of “large global spillovers” if Greece doesn’t tighten the reins on its debt; Wal-Mart fends off its Supreme Court discrimination suit; and the government files suit against J.P. Morgan Chase and Royal Bank of Scotland Group for selling bad mortgage bonds to credit unions.
Economy Watch: Leading Economic Indicators See Uptick
The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index registered a bump up in May, but consumer sentiment dropped in early June. And large numbers of corruption charges are moving through Chinese courts.