Hints and tips:
...Because Morgan Stanley is an investment bank, it cannot easily assist cash-strapped homeowners, so its settlement may end up financing new construction....
...Had enough homeowners been around to start a Leadenhall Street Residents’ Association, it is doubtful if the so-called “Cheesegrater” could have been built....
...But, as Ethan Harris at Bank of America Merrill Lynch shows on Monday, nothing could be further from the truth....
...Ralph Axel, interest rates strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, took up the metaphor in a note to clients....
...There are lots of people – investors and homeowners – who will want to sell as soon as prices get a bit higher....
...money in the hands of households than it is to have money in the hands of investors such as pension plans, mutual funds, banks and other holders of loans and securities,” said analysts at Bank of America Merrill...
...The SEC is continuing to investigate Citigroup and BofA’s Merrill subsidiary for their sale of mortgage-related securities in 2006 and 2007....
...Homeowners looking to remortgage are being advised to opt for variable rate loans, as providers drag their heels in passing on expectations of low rates to longer-term deals....
...Freddie Mac said on Tuesday that delinquencies were declining and loan modifications were on the rise, as struggling homeowners made progress avoiding eviction, and the National Association of Realtors reported...
...The period also saw the hurried acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, which has since become the subject of congressional hearings and investigations by the New York attorney-general....
...Beyond the turmoil for banks and homeowners, however, there is a super-sub-prime crisis brewing in Washington....
...The homeowner gets the reduction in principal and, in many cases, a lower mortgage rate....
...Merrill Lynch fell 11.6 per cent to $24.33. Over the past 10 days the brokerage has gained and lost about 30 per cent of its value....
...Herb has been the Vice Chairman of Merrill Lynch and for the last eight years chairman of TIAA-CREF. David was the Vice Chairman and CFO of US Bancorp....
...financial impact of higher energy and food prices have caused nearly two thirds of all private investors to stop investing, or to sell their holdings, according to the latest confidence index from the Association...
...It’s laughable that the National Association of Realtors is projecting a 1.2 per cent decline in housing prices this year....
...Amid the steady drumbeat of bad news for the US housing market, there are hopes that a recent dramatic fall in mortgage rates could help struggling homeowners refinance into cheaper loans, offering the prospect...
...The problem appears to be national and may yet be exacerbated by rising foreclosures as homeowners give up on increasingly burdensome mortgages....
...This compares with a consensus view of 14 per cent EPS growth next year which “is far too optimistic”, said Merrill....
...The National Association of Home Builders said housing developers’ expectations for fresh demand had dropped to its lowest point since records began 22 years ago....
...She says the agent encouraged her to buy a multi-family property, where she could become not only homeowner but landlady as well....
...That is going to hit discretionary spending,” says David Bowers, chief global investment strategist at Merrill Lynch....
...The recent high level of ABS issuance has been fuelled by deals packaging home equity loans, as homeowners have borrowed against rocketing US property values....
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