Category: Blog Articles
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Are Vampires Draining the Housing Recovery?
Hollywood may be making headlines with tales of vampires and zombies, but these bloodsuckers and walking dead are also stalking the housing recovery. According to a new RaltyTrac report, these aptly named unsellable foreclosures are keeping bank inventories high and threatening to stall a recovery that ripples throughout the entire economy. We’ve reported here previously…
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Fannie Mae Sues US and Foreign Banks
Bank fraud goes international once again in a new lawsuit filed by mortgage megalender Fannie Mae. Joining the long line of lawsuits filed against the nation’s major banks by the US Department of Justice and various state attorneys general, the new action by Fannie Mae targets both domestic and foreign lending institutions and exposes more…
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Old Houses Draw New Buyers
Some things get better with age. And while that’s a claim usually applied to fine wine and classic cars, it’s also proving true in the world of real estate, as sales of “vintage” houses – those built before 1990 – are boosting the housing recovery and related areas of the economy in markets around the…
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Younger Investors Embrace independence
A few decades or more ago, parents knew best about money management, and their offspring typically followed their lead about buying, banking and investing. But a new study of the investing habits of three generations – baby boomers, the fortysomething Generation X and recent college graduates the millennials, or Generation Y – suggests that the…
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Are Community Nuisance Ordinances Constitutional?
Laws against public crime and misbehavior have been around for years. Virtually every community has ordinances – and consequences – for public drunkenness, loitering, vagrancy and the like. But a new kind of law aimed at crushing neighborhood crime allows law enforcement to outsource policing to local property owners – and, a new court challenge…
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Can Online Auctions Boost the Recovery?
“Going, going, gone!” And the gavel slams down. If that’s your image of an auction sale, think again. Although “real world” auctions are still around, letting people bid on everything from livestock to acreage, auction sales have gone online in a big way. And because pnline real estate auctions offer a quick and no-frills way…
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Will Rising Interest Rates Slow the Economy?
To offset the risk of an economic slowdown after the government’s 16-day hiatus, the Federal Reserve has opted to stay the course on its much publicized stimulus program. But although one goal of the multibillion-dollar securities buyup was to keep interest rates low, those rates are creeping upward anyway – and, according to a new…
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Five Ways Rich Investors Build Wealth
As currencies rise and fall and markets both global and local turn jittery because of political uncertainty, some wealthy individuals nevertheless manage not just to survive but also to thrive, reaping returns on their investments even in uncertain times. These wealthy investors CEOS, entrepreneurs, and people from a wide range of fields – manage to…
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No End in Sight For Bank Settlements?
As the latest in the long line of bank fraud investigations comes to a close, JP Morgan Chase has reached a tentative settlement deal with the US Justice Department to the tune of $13 billion. Investigators aren’t finished, though; criminal charges could still be coming against the banking giant – one of several leading institutions…
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Is the Dollar Losing Its Global Luster?
The dust is settling after the end of the government shutdown, but the dollar continues its downward slide. As the world’s leading reserve currency struggles amid concerns about its long term stability, some countries are calling for an alternative reserve money and the “de-Americanization” of global finance. write my essay for cheap Backed by the…