All Posts Tagged With: "FRE"
(FNM) Case Schiller Home Price Index Shows U.S. Home Prices Rose in May
The Case Schiller Home Price Indexes were generally higher in May. On a seasonally adjusted basis (and there is significant seasonality to home prices, so looking at the unadjusted numbers the way that most of the media does is a serious mistake) both the Composite 20 (C20)...
27Jul2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(UDR) Real Estate Investment Trust Outlook – July 2010 – Industry Outlook
The U.S. Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) industry that witnessed two strong back-to-back performances in first quarter 2010 and fourth quarter 2009 somewhat lost its momentum in its fiscal 2010 second quarter. The FTSE NAREIT Equity REIT Index reported total returns of negative...
2Jul2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(FNM) U.S. Housing Prices Mixed in March
The Case Schiller indexes showed that housing prices were mixed in March on a seasonally adjusted basis. Since there is a distinct seasonality to housing prices (they tend to go up in the spring and down in the winter), those are the numbers that should be focused on. Many of...
25May2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(FNM) U.S. Employment Numbers Seem to Be Stalling
Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance, or “initial jobless claims,” rose by 25,000 last week to 471,000, well by 27,000 if you count the fact that last week’s claims were revised up by 2,000. That caused the four-week moving average, which is considered to be...
20May2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JPM) U.S. Banks Stock Update – May 2010 – Industry Outlook
Although a major recovery in the asset markets has been witnessed in recent quarters, the outlook for the U.S. banking industry still remains in question due to several negatives Incorporatedluding asset-quality troubles, drawbacks of new regulations and the continuation of both...
19May2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AGNC) American Capital Agency to Offer Common Shares
American Capital Agency Corp. (AGNC), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), has recently announced plans to offer 6.0 million common shares at $25.75 each to raise cash. The company will also grant the underwriters an option to purchase an additional 0.9 million shares...
17May2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BAC) Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Fell (Sort Of)
Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance fell 4,000 in the last week to 444,000. However, last week’s numbers were revised up by 4,000, so in many respects they were unchanged. The four-week moving average declined by 9,000 to 450,500. There is a fair amount of volatility...
13May2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(WMT) U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Bounce Down Again
As shown in the graph below (from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/) after a big decline starting in April of last year, Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance have become extremely erratic. This week it was time for some good news, as claims fell by 7,000 to 444,000, although...
6May2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(WMT) Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Drop Down
As shown in the graph below (from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/) after a big decline starting in April of last year, Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance have become extremely erratic. This week it was time for some good news as claims fell by 11,000 to 448,000, although...
29Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BAC) U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Rise Again
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose sharply for the second straight week, rising 24,000 to 484,000. Just two weeks ago they were at 442,000. The four-week moving average, which is generally considered a better measure given the week-to-week volatility in the numbers,...
15Apr2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(FNM) U.S. Existing Home Sales Slip Slightly
Existing home sales fell by 0.6% (seasonally adjusted annual rate) to 5.02 million from a 5.05 million rate in January. This was just 7.0% above the extremely depressed rate of a year ago. However, it was slightly better than the consensus expectations of a 5.00 million rate. Existing...
27Mar2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(PMI) PMI Group Wins Freddie Mac Approval
California-based PMI Group Inc.’s (PMI) principal operating subsidiary PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. (“MIC”), announced yesterday that it has won approval from Freddie Mac (FRE) for PMI Mortgage Assurance Co., (“PMAC”) to directly sell mortgage guaranty insurance...
25Mar2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(FNM) Federal Reserve Stays On Hold With Interest Rates – In-Depth
As expected, the Federal Reserve left the federal funds rate unchanged at its meeting today. Below, we present statements from the current meeting along with statements from the late January meeting, with my commentary and interpretation (translation?) interspersed on a paragraph...
18Mar2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($FRE) Freddie Mac’s Net Loss Widens
Freddie Mac’s (FRE) fourth quarter net loss came in at $2.39 per share, substantially higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 80 cents. This also compares unfavorably with a net loss of $2.06 in the prior quarter. Results for the quarter exclude the preferred...
25Feb2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(FNM) Number of Homeowners Underwater Continues to Rise
First American Core logic just released its report on the number of homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages. The storm waters continue to rise. In all, more than 11.3 million, or 24 percent, of all residential properties with mortgages, were underwater at the end of...
24Feb2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($FNM) Housing Prices Show Small Rise
The Case-Schiller housing price indexes were released this morning, and both the Composite 10 (C-10) and the Composite 20 (C-20) showed monthly increases of 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis. Since there is a fair amount of seasonality in housing prices, the seasonally adjusted...
23Feb2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(FNM) Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Exit Strategy
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill this morning, but because the Capitol was frozen (by the weather, not just by filibusters) the hearing was cancelled. However, he did release his prepared testimony. In general, in his remarks about monetary policy,...
12Feb2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JPM) U.S. Banks Stock Update – February 2010 – Industry Outlook
After enduring extraordinary shocks in 2008, the U.S. banks entered an exceptional state of turmoil in 2009. Starting as a credit issue in the subprime segment of the mortgage market, the sticky situation infected almost the entire financial services industry, and all corners...
3Feb2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($FRE) Mortgage Delinquencies Still Rising
Freddie Mac (FRE) reported that the serious single family delinquency rate for mortgages in its portfolio rose to 3.87% in December from 3.72% in November, an increase of 15 basis points. Serious delinquencies are mortgages where the homeowner is more than 90 days behind on their...
29Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($FNM) Wall Street’s Greed: How to End Big Banks’ Grip on the U.S. Economy
Guest Editorial by Shah Gilani, Contributing Editor, Money Morning Wednesday, January 27, 2010: Issue #1184 The Founding Fathers’ worst fears have come true. When they settled in America 234 years ago, they were afraid of any concentration of power in the republic. They were...
27Jan2010 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(CS) Case Schiller Indexes Show Home Prices Edge Up
In November, housing prices increased by 0.24% on a seasonally adjusted basis for both the Case Schiller (CS) Composite 10 (CS-10) and Composite 20 (CS-20) city indexes. The CS indexes are considered the gold standard of housing price indexes, and track actual repeat sales, and...
26Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(SHW) Existing Homes Sales Plunge
The National Association of Realtors reported this morning that in December Existing Homes Sales plunged 16.7% from November, to an annual rate of 5.45 million. That rate was, however, 15.0% below the extremely depressed 4.74 million rate in December 2008. While inventories also...
25Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AGNC) REIT Outlook & Stock Review – January 2010 – Industry Outlook
Real Estate Investment Trusts The U.S. Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) industry registered a strong recovery and year-end performance in 2009. The FTSE NAREIT Equity REIT Index reported total returns of 27.99% in 2009, vs. a 26.46% and 18.82% gain for the S&P 500 and...
25Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MTG) MGIC Investment Corporation Sees Rating Action
Last week, rating agency Fitch withdrew its long-term issuer rating “B-“ of MGIC Investment Corp. (MTG) along with withdrawing the “BB-“ insurer financial strength rating of its subsidiary, Mortgage Guaranty Investment Corp. The rating agency also pulled back the rating...
19Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JPM) JPMorgan Chase & Company Adds 24 Mortgage Centers
In an effort to extend its helping hand toward struggling homeowners who have to make their mortgage payments, JPMorgan Chase & Company (JPM) said on Monday that it is almost doubling its nationwide network by adding 24 more Chase Homeownership Centers Incorporatedluding...
14Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($FNM) Federal Reserve Paid $46.1Billion to Treasury in 2009
The Federal Reserve paid a record $46.1 billion in profits for 2009 to the U.S. Treasury as the central bank earned a record net income of $52.1 billion, up 46.8% year-over-year by exposing taxpayer money to risk in an effort to stabilize the financial system last year. The payment...
13Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(FNM) Housing and Rental Data
Many of the government efforts to help the housing market, such as the Fed buying up fully one quarter of all the mortgage-backed securities backed by Fannie Mae (FNM), Freddie Mac (FRE) and Ginnie Mae, as well as the “first time” homebuyer tax credit, are designed to...
8Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(C) Looking Ahead to a Decade of Zeroes
A decade ago when the ball fell in Times Square, there was an enormous sense of both optimism about the future and relief that the world did not come to an end. I’m not talking about some sort of round-figure Armageddon, but the much more real fear back then that all the computers...
5Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(FNM) Pay Czar Says Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Are Being Discriminated Against
U.S. pay czar Kenneth Feinberg said on Wednesday that mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) are being discriminated, with respect to pay restrictions, from other companies receiving significant financial support from the government as they countenance...
31Dec2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BAC) Report Shows Initial Jobless Claims Still Falling
Initial claims for unemployment insurance continued their descent this week, falling by 22,000 to 432,000. This was well below consensus expectations of 460,000 new claims. The 4-week moving average also fell, but not as sharply, down 5,500 to 460,250. Given the inherent week-to-week...
31Dec2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued