Summary List Placement The systemic exclusion of Black Americans from employment, home ownership, and generational wealth is not a new story. And the wealth gap between Black and white Americans has only persisted: In the fourth quarter of 2020, white households had a total net worth that was over 20 times that of total wealth […]
Mortgage applications decreased for the third straight week – this time down 2.5%, according to the latest report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Refinance activity dropped to its slowest pace since September 2020 – down a full 5% – with declines in both conventional and government applications, according to Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president […]
Summary List Placement One of the most important shipping routes in the world, the Suez Canal, has been blocked by a massive container ship for a day. Ever Given, a nearly 200-foot-wide, 1,300-foot-long cargo ship sailing under a Panamanian flag, has caused a transcontinental logjam in the Egyptian waters, which directly connect Europe to Asia. […]
Summary List Placement President Joe Biden’s economic team is in the early stages of drafting a $3 trillion infrastructure plan that could be split into several packages. But Republicans in Congress panned it on Tuesday, a fresh sign that a bipartisan deal may be hard to reach in the months ahead. Senate Republicans unloaded on […]
Profit margins for independent mortgage banks (IMBs) and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks shrank dramatically in the fourth quarter of 2020 as costs climbed. IMBs reported a net gain of $3,738 per each originated loan in the fourth quarter, down from $5,535 during the third quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association‘s latest quarterly performance […]
Summary List Placement Infrastructure talks are ramping up in Congress and in the White House, and instead of putting together a single colossal bill, President Joe Biden’s advisors are expected to present a proposal worth up to $3 trillion this week, consisting of two legislative pieces. The New York Times first reported the outline of […]
Brad Wayman Citigroup named Brad Wayman as head of U.S mortgage after serving in the role since December. Wayman first joined Citi in 2003, and most recently, he held the position of head of U.S mortgage sales, where he led distributed retail sales, direct to consumer sales, strategic market business development, community reinvestment strategy and […]
Summary List Placement Last week, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona canceled $1 billion in student loan debt for about 72,000 defrauded borrowers. The decision, his first major one as Biden’s education chief, came after a series of investigations over the last decade of for-profit schools for engaging in fraudulent behavior related to federal loans. Corinthian Colleges […]
Summary List Placement Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has been clear since her confirmation hearing and subsequent press appearances that the Biden administration needs to raise new tax revenues. It’s a key part of the administration’s ambitious agenda, which includes a $1.9 trillion stimulus and now potentially a $3 trillion infrastructure package. At the same time, […]
After eight consecutive months of improvement, the national mortgage delinquency rate rose in February from to 6% from 5.85%, according to a report from Black Knight on Tuesday. The data giant pointed to February’s seasonality as it is a shorter month and ended on a Sunday this year, allowing for fewer days to process payments. Last month’s […]
Summary List Placement Although a federal minimum wage increase to $15 an hour didn’t make it into the stimulus bill, Senate Democrats are meeting today to find a way to get it done somehow, a Democratic source told HuffPost. According to the source, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will meet with the progressive senators who […]
Summary List Placement Despite lower COVID-19 case counts, encouraging economic data, and an improved rate of vaccination, the US economy has plenty of work to do to fully recover, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said. The US is nearing the end of the tunnel. Widespread vaccination suggests the country could have a grasp on the […]
Summary List Placement From the end of 2019 to 2020, the top 1% of Americans added just about $4 trillion to their wealth. According to data from the Federal Reserve, the top 1% of Americans held about $34.58 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2019. By the fourth quarter of 2020, they had $38.61 trillion. […]
With just more than a week away from the one-year anniversary of the CARES Act, new forbearance requests dropped to their lowest level since March of 2020, pushing the total number of loans in forbearance down nine basis points to 5.05% of servicers’ portfolio volume, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Monday. Alongside a dampening […]
Summary List Placement Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are too volatile to replace the dollar, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Monday. Bitcoin has surged in price as companies including Tesla and Square invest in the token. The Fed is still exploring use cases for a digital currency issued by the central bank, Powell said. Sign up here […]
Summary List Placement Instead of pushing a single colossal spending bill through Congress, President Joe Biden’s advisors are reportedly expected to present a proposal this week that includes $3 trillion in spending aimed at boosting the economy and fighting climate change through separate legislative pieces. The New York Times first reported that Biden’s economic advisors […]
Summary List Placement Vaccine distribution is ramping up, stimulus checks are being sent, and summer is on the horizon. It’s a hopeful combination that’s got Americans itching with wanderlust. Airline, hotel, and restaurant spending are all up compared to a year ago when the pandemic first ravaged the country, although still not close to pre-pandemic […]
Summary List Placement President Joe Biden is getting even more serious about raising taxes on the wealthy, according to a new Bloomberg report. It likely won’t look like a “wealth tax,” though. Biden hasn’t said he’d enact a wealth tax like the one proposed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and instead he’s reportedly considering alterations to […]
Summary List Placement The Americans who endured the toughest employment hits of the past two decades are also the ones most prone to long-term scarring, according to a study from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. It’s the youth. The coronavirus pandemic fueled labor-market turmoil across nearly all groups. The headline unemployment peaked at […]
This month, United Wholesale Mortgage took the industry by surprise when it made a statement that it would block mortgage brokers from doing business with the company if they did business with either Quicken Loans or Fairway Mortgage. With that announcement came a modification to the UWM-broker contract, making note of significant financial penalties for […]
Summary List Placement Former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said that the country is seeing the “least responsible” macroeconomic policy of the past 40 years, resting the blame on lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Summers offered the negative economic forecast during an appearance on Bloomberg Television’s “Wall Street Week” on Friday. Summers has […]
Summary List Placement Canadian Pacific Railway has agreed to acquire Kansas City Southern in a deal that will create the first ever rail network that spans across Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The combined company will operate 20,000 miles of rail, employ close to 20,000 people, and generate total revenues of about $8.7 billion, […]
Summary List Placement Regime changes are usually identified years after they first emerge. LeBron James’ decision to take his talents to South Beach kicked off a new era of NBA “superteams,” assembled by friendly superstars coordinating their movements via free agency. Robert Downey, Jr.’s portrayal of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, in 2008 set the […]
Summary List Placement Fresh off their first major legislative victory, Democrats are renewing their push to achieve another key part of President Joe Biden’s agenda: A massive, multitrillion-dollar infrastructure bill. Speaker Nancy Pelosi instructed key House committees last week to start assembling a package. House Democrats scheduled two hearings for Tuesday and Wednesday as well. […]
Summary List Placement A couple bought a home in Riverside, California, in January 2020, but over a year later they haven’t been able to move in because the seller refuses to leave, Fox 11 LA reported. Tracie and Myles Albert bought the four-bedroom home in cash for the asking price of $560,000, real estate agent […]
Summary List Placement It feels like a fever dream now, but for one week in late January all anyone in the media could talk about was Gamestop’s skyrocketing stock prices. In case you’ve already driven the episode out of your memory, here’s a brief recap: A Wall Street hedge fund had placed a big bet […]
Summary List Placement You might have noticed that you’ve been shelling out more for things like houses, gas, and cars. And it’s been hard to get your hands on things like fitness gear, sofas, and roller skates. That’s because America is reopening to a more expensive economy than the one that existed pre-pandemic. For now, it […]
A growing chorus of mortgage industry observers believe the final week of February might have been the last hurrah for sub-3% mortgage rates. And the proof is in the refi pudding. With mortgage rates making their ascension, many late-to-the-game homeowners hopped on the chance to refinance their home loans and pushed refi volume to 68% […]
Summary List Placement As the coronavirus pandemic pummeled the economy starting in spring 2020, states and cities seemed increasingly vulnerable. Would they be forgotten in stimulus relief efforts? Was New York City truly dead? But the recently enacted $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan might provide a strong start for state and local governments, which also […]
National homebuilder Lennar Corp. plans to spin off all its non-core businesses to become a pure-play homebuilder and financial services company, the company announced on Wednesday. In an earnings call this week, Lennar executive chairman Stuart Miller said the move would maximize the technology investments made through LENx, the company’s primary investment vehicle. Those investments […]
Summary List Placement While the lack of a minimum wage increase in the latest stimulus bill was a blow to many progressives, they aren’t giving up the fight to ensure the wage gets increased this year. And on Friday, they joined labor leaders in a call with reporters to share ways they might look to […]
Summary List Placement Although student debt cancellation for every American has not been implemented, debt accrued by students who were frauded by for-profit schools will see their loans forgiven in the coming weeks. In his first major move as Education Secretary for President Joe Biden, Miguel Cardona on Thursday reversed a Trump-era policy that gave […]
Summary List Placement A rule change that eased capital requirements for major banks will expire as planned on March 31, the Federal Reserve said on Friday. The pandemic-era policy to give banks relief from what is formally called the supplementary leverage ratio allowed Wall Street firms to keep less cash on hand against Treasurys than […]
Summary List Placement Forget the pandemic. Inflation is the new issue haunting Americans, on Wall Street and Main Street alike. Celebrations over vaccine approvals and falling COVID-19 case counts are giving way to concerns over just how quickly the economy will recover — and what that means for prices. New stimulus signed last week promises […]
Summary List Placement Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said potential central bank digital currencies must coexist with cash. COVID-19 has brought forward the need to address the limitations of current payments, he said. Achieving an improved payments system would require multiple stakeholders to collaborate, he said. Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before […]
Mortgage rates have increased roughly 50 basis points in the first few months of 2021, in no small part due to fears that inflation will rear its ugly head as the economy rebounds. But the Federal Reserve is staying the course, maintaining the low-rate environment that gave rise to the best year for the mortgage […]
Summary List Placement With student debt in the US totaling approximately $1.7 trillion, there is no question that forgiving that debt would be a welcome relief for many Americans. But whether $10,000 or $50,000 in student debt is cancelled per person, experts found middle- and high-income families would reap most of the benefits. A new […]
Summary List Placement The IRS chief said during a congressional hearing on Thursday that the agency is taking steps to issue refunds for people who paid taxes on the first $10,200 in jobless aid. IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig urged taxpayers to refrain from filing an amended return. Instead, the organization is aiming to distribute refunds […]
Summary List Placement American small businesses have experienced significant revenue hits since COVID-19 began, but the majority are now fully open as shutdown restrictions lift across the country. A report released on Wednesday by Kabbage — an American Express company — found that 57% of the more than 550 surveyed small businesses were fully open. […]
Summary List Placement President Joe Biden is seeking to finance a major infrastructure and jobs package in the months ahead, and it appears increasingly likely tax hikes will be among the bill’s key components. The Biden administration is reportedly considering a tax increase on both high-earning Americans as well as big corporations, White House aides […]
Summary List Placement President Joe Biden signed his $1.9 trillion stimulus plan last week, and Americans are eager to receive their stimulus checks and get tax refunds. But H&R Block and TurboTax customers will have to wait for some of it. Taxpayers with income under $150,000 in 2020 are eligible for a tax exemption on the […]
In the wake of an ultimatum that mortgage brokers couldn’t use Rocket Pro TPO and Fairway Independent Mortgage while still sending loans to United Wholesale Mortgage, Mat Ishbia declared victory. In a statement issued after Monday’s deadline, the president and CEO of UWM said that more than 10,000 broker shops have pledged to no longer […]
Summary List Placement The world economy is set to thrive through 2021 as vaccinations and a new swath of fiscal support bring countries back to pre-pandemic norms, Fitch economists said. The team led by Brian Coulton lifted their estimates for economic growth in a Tuesday note, joining several other firms in preparing for a strong […]
For the third consecutive week, mortgage rates pushed past 3% – with the average mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed loan up four basis points last week to 3.09%, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. Rising mortgage rates typically signify a recovering economy, and despite applications for mortgages dropping week-over-week, according to Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s […]
Summary List Placement While the pandemic hit the US, everyone seemed to want their own house. With mortgage rates at record lows and no need to commute to work in cities for at least 2020, prices soared everywhere. But they’re also soaring because there isn’t enough wood out there: lumber, to be exact. Now it’s clear how […]