The Fed’s QE3 and the Bank-Stock Connection

The Federal Reserve’s third round of Quantitative Easing, that massive stimulus program intended to boost the economy in the years following the housing collapse of 2008, officially ended in October 2014. But as the dust settles, some financial experts point out that...

Can Big Banks Be Trusted With Pensions?

The biggest players in the US banking industry have been on the hot seat ever since the housing collapse of 2008 exposed a number of misleading, predatory and downright illegal practices perpetrated both at home and abroad. Now, as another round of penalties come down...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Still On Top in Home Loans?

Ever since the great housing collapse of 2008, legislators and regulators have tried to scale back – or even eliminate – federal mortgage megalenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But as new regulations n private lenders, the agencies everyone loves to hate just keep on...

Does Housing Drive Income Inequality?

The widening gap between the wealthy and – well, everyone else in America has occupied news headlines since the housing collapse of a few years ago. As the famous one percent gets richer and the other 99 do not, a new theory suggests that income inequality is really...

What’s Ahead for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

Fannie and Freddie are still headed for the chopping block. The demise of those venerable home loan agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac might not seem to matter to anyone who’s not looking to buy a house. But some market watchers worry that the dismantling of the...

Interest Rates: Trends for 2015?

With every new year comes a round of predictions about the financial future. This year, as in many others, the fate of interest rates in 2015 and beyond is the subject of speculation, most of it pessimistic. Financial experts and economists are once again predicting...

Is the Fed Finally Ending the Stimulus?

Is it curtains for QE3? The Federal Reserve has announced that Quantitative Easing, round three, better known as QE3, is coming to an end – although key interest rates won’t rise until mid-2015. The end of the stimulus also marks the end of a massive experiment in...

Lower Credit Standards: Economic Boost or Bust?

We’ve always been told that success depends on setting high standards. Lowering your standards, so the conventional wisdom goes, leads to accepting low quality and ultimately bad outcomes. But in a bid to offset a sluggish recovery, the US government is advocating...

Do Borrowers Need Banks?

Banks are an essential part of the financial landscape – or at least, they’d like you to think so. But are they? New banking alternatives may be making the traditional bank loan a thing of the past. The traditional banking model has been around for centuries,...

FICO Score Changes: A Boost For Risky Borrowers?

Fair Isaac is changing his game. And that has some financial experts worried. The nation’s premier credit scoring agency, the Fair Isaac Company, has come to an agreement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to change the way credit scores are calculated....