Articles About Inc.

Are Americans shopping until they drop again? It could be, judging by the latest government report showing that consumer spending rose by a surprisingly vigorous 0.6 percent in September, even as personal incomes barely grew.  Adjusting for inflation, after-tax income declined slightly by 0.1 percent, according to the Department of Commerce.  The bottom line is […]

Federal officials and some of the nation’s largest banks are collaborating on a plan that would make refinancing available to some borrowers whose houses are worth less than their loans, with the caveat that they must be up-to-date on mortgage payments.  Typically, these borrowers can’t refinance because they don’t have enough equity in their homes. […]

Federal regulators have requested public comment on the Volcker Rule — the Dodd-Frank Act restrictions that would ban American banks from making short-term trades of financial instruments for their own accounts and prevent them from owning or sponsoring hedge funds and private-equity funds.  The Volcker rule, released by the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance […]

Default notices sent to delinquent U.S. homeowners soared 33 percent in August when compared with July, evidence that lenders are accelerating the foreclosure process after almost one year of delays, according to RealtyTrac, Inc.  First-time default notices were filed on 78,880 homes, the highest number in nine months.  Total foreclosure filings, which also include auction and […]

ADP, a leading payroll services company, is reporting that private companies added 114,000 jobs in July. Many analysts had projected an increase in hiring from June, but it is not likely that the unemployment rate will decline even if job growth rose sharply.  ADP’s forecasts are frequently used to measure how the labor economy is […]

Home prices revived somewhat during the 2nd quarter, but the housing market is still struggling.  Prices climbed an impressive 3.6 percent, compared during the three months ending March 31.  Despite the upbeat news, home prices are still down 5.9 percent compared with the 2nd quarter of 2010.  The rise in home prices came after three […]

Foreclosure filings fell a dramatic 35 percent in July to the lowest level in nearly four years as lenders and state and federal agencies ramped up their efforts to keep delinquent borrowers in their homes, according to RealtyTrac Inc.  A total of 212,764 properties received default, auction or repossession notices, the lowest number in 44 […]

American home prices may start rising as soon as the 3rd quarter as a foreclosure decline makes more homes available for sale, according to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan.  “It’s very unlikely that we will see a significant further decline,” Donovan said.  “The real question is when will we start to see sustainable […]

There’s good news and bad news about foreclosures.  Although the number of foreclosures fell to their lowest rate in 4 ½ years in April, the reason is a delay in processing the orders, not because Americans are experiencing less trouble paying their mortgages.  “Foreclosure activity decreased on an annual basis for the seventh straight month […]

Social networking could gain 1.3 billion new users if a deal goes through that will introduce Facebook to China.  Facebook Inc. has signed an agreement with Baidu, Inc.  a search engine company, to create a social-networking website in China.  “We are currently studying and learning about China, as part of evaluating any possible approaches that […]