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August 7, 2007
Mortgages
name='1'>Presidential Candidates Raise Issue of Mortgage
Reforms
As a wave of mortgage
foreclosures buffets financial markets and feeds voter economic anxiety,
Democratic presidential candidates are raising the issue and making
proposals to curb abuse in the mortgage lending market, the
Wall Street Journal
reported today. Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is scheduled to unveil today a plan to combat
mortgage lending abuse by proposing a package of measures that would
impose new disclosure requirements on mortgage brokers and curb their
ability to dictate lending terms. Specifically,
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Clinton
proposal is looking to force brokers to state their fees in plain
language, require a full disclosure of monthly tax and insurance costs
for subprime loans, and ban prepayment penalties on all home mortgages.
One rival, former Sen. John Edwards (
w:st='on'>
size='3'>D-
size='3'>N.C.), has
proposed setting up bailout pools to assist homeowners facing
foreclosure and easing bankruptcy rules for people in danger of losing
their houses. Another Democratic contender, Senate Banking Committee
Chairman
size='3'>Chris
has held hearings about predatory lending and held a housing summit in
May involving industry officials and consumer advocates to come up with
changes to current lending practices that lenders would eventually agree
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118644161576589821.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='2'>Commentary: Regulators Should Be Mindful of Pensions in the
Mortgage Downturn
Even though government
regulators remain skeptical of the need for new rules to cover risky
mortgage derivative products or the hedge funds that tend to buy them,
there is a danger that the casualties to come in this market downturn
will include the pension plans of working Americans, according to an
editorial in today’s
size='3'>New York Times. Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke recently told Congress, “In most cases, I
think that pension funds should probably not, you know, go heavily into
these types of instruments.” But faced with growing numbers of
retirees, some pensions — including those for police and
firefighters in
size='3'>Ohio and
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Dallas
have been unable to resist making these risky investments in an attempt
to increase their returns. Public and private pension funds have also
plowed tens of billions into hedge funds, which have been piling into
mortgage-related securities. Protecting pensioners from bad investments
will not be easy. A good place to start would be to make rating agencies
more accountable, perhaps by asking regulators to monitor their quality.
Pension law should also be changed to ensure that the premium that
private pensions pay into the Pension and Benefit Guarantee Corp. takes
into account the risk of their investments.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/07/opinion/07tue2.html?pagewanted=print'>Read
more.
name='3'>New Century Judge Lifts Stay for Mortgage
Companies
Bankruptcy Judge
Kevin J. Carey
size='3'>lifted the protective stay against New Century Financial Corp.
for two other mortgage companies, allowing them foreclose on mortgages
held by New Century that are junior to their own loans,
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360
size='3'>reported yesterday. Judge Carey lifted the stay relating to
seven mortgages, one held by Greenpoint Mortgage Funding and the rest by
Countrywide Home Loans. After reviewing the titles on the seven
properties in question, Greenpoint and
size='3'>Countrywide discovered that New Century holds a lien on the
same properties, which is junior to their mortgages. The mortgage
holders are all in default, but Greenpoint and Countrywide are blocked
from pursuing them because of New Century’s stay.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=31670'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='4'>Mortgage Fears Drive up Rates on High-End Home
Loans
The latest sign of
anxiety by lenders and investors in the mortgage market has borne out in
a surge in rates on mortgages for high-end homes taken out by consumers
with good credit records, or “jumbo loans,” the
Wall Street Journal
reported today. Jumbo mortgages exceed the $417,000 limit
for loans eligible for purchase and guarantee by Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac. They account for about 16 percent of the total mortgage
market, according to
size='3'>Inside Mortgage Finance, and are
especially prevalent in
size='3'>California
w:st='on'>New
Jersey,
w:st='on'>
York City
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Washington
and other locales with high home costs. Lenders were charging an average
7.34 percent for prime 30-year fixed-rate jumbo loans yesterday,
according to a survey by financial publisher HSH Associates. That is up
from an average of about 7.1 percent last week and 6.5 percent in
mid-May. The higher costs for such loans will put further downward
pressure on home prices in areas where homes typically bought by
middle-class people usually cost between $500,000 and $700,000. The jump
in jumbo-mortgage rates is the latest gust in a subprime storm that has
sunk two hedge funds run by Bear Stearns Cos., knocked American Home and
dozens of other lenders out of business, battered an already weak
housing market and fueled weeks of stock-market turmoil.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118644741706689960.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='5'>National City Bank Suspends Home Loans
National City Bank said
yesterday that it has stopped taking applications for home equity loans
and lines of credit as problems in the mortgage industry continue to
spread, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The company said that
it will continue to take all necessary steps to help ensure that
originations are in line with existing and anticipated market
conditions. The announcement came the same day that American Home
Mortgage Investment Corp., the nation's 10th-biggest home lender, filed
for bankruptcy protection, the latest sign of a distressed mortgage
industry.
href='http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070806/national_city_home_equity.html?.v=1'>Read
more.
name='6'>Aegis Mortgage Suspends Lending
Aegis Mortgage Corp., a
Houston-based mortgage lender whose owners include private-equity firm
Cerberus Capital Management, said yesterday that it had suspended all
loan originations amid the worsening housing and credit markets, the
Associated Press reported yesterday. Aegis Mortgage said that it had
notified brokers who serve as customers that Aegis would not be able to
fund loans currently in the pipeline. Aegis is known as one of the top
30 largest
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>mortgage production franchises.
href='http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5030947.html'>Read
more.
name='7'>Deloitte Surrenders Millions to Adelphia
Trustees
Deloitte & Touche has
agreed to pay $167.5 million to the Adelphia
Recovery Trust in an attempt to put to rest allegations of impropriety
connected to its role as auditor for the bankrupt cable company,
size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360 reported yesterday.
The Adelphia scandal first broke in 2002, when federal prosecutors filed
charges against the company and the company's founders, the Rigas
family, after a four-month investigation into questionable accounting
practices that netted more than $2 billion in illegal profits.
Adelphia’s shareholders then brought over 60 suits against the
company, which went bankrupt in 2002, the Rigas family, Deloitte and the
banks, accusing them of contributing to the fraud. Last December,
Deloitte and 39 banks agreed to pay $455 million for their role in the
collapse of the now-defunct cable provider. Previously, Deloitte had
paid $50 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to
settle charges that it aided Adelphia’s accounting fraud.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=31656'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='8'>Global Home Requests Exclusivity Extension
Global Home Products LLC has
asked the court overseeing its chapter 11 proceedings for a 60-day
extension of its exclusive rights to file and solicit support for
a reorganization
plan, Bankruptcy
Law360 reported yesterday. Bankruptcy
Judge Kevin
Gross has already granted Global Home Products
three such extensions, the most recent of which came in May, and
stretched the bankrupt houseware products company's exclusive rights to
file and seek support for a chapter 11 plan through Aug. 3 and Oct. 4,
respectively. Global Home Products' most recent extension motion says
that while the debtors' “large and complex” cases have
been pending for only about 16 months, significant progress has been
made, including the sale of substantially all of the assets of the
company's three primary business divisions in support of its
argument.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=31689'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
EU
Emissions Rules Cloud Ford’s Sale of Premium Brands
Uncertainty over how the
European Union will apply new regulations on carbon-dioxide emissions is
clouding Ford Motor Co.'s effort to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover
brands, the Wall Street
Journal reported today. Some potential bidders
for the brands, including several private-equity firms, are wary of new
rules intended to lower auto emissions and curb the gases believed to
contribute to global warming. They worry that Jaguar and Land Rover --
niche makers of sports cars and sport-utility vehicles, respectively --
will be hurt because they don't have broader fleets including
more-fuel-efficient cars to offset their less-efficient models. The
potential for tighter regulation presents another hurdle for
private-equity suitors and could complicate the auction for Ford at a
time when it needs cash to fund its restructuring in
w:st='on'>North
America
are being sold together, could be valued at more than $3
billion.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118643830030589719.html?mod=us_business_whats_news'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
International
size='3'>U.S. Mortgage Worries Lead German Firm
to Shut Fund
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Germany
size='3'>, which last week became the first European country to be
infected by the woes in the American mortgage market, suffered another
blow on Monday when an asset-management firm in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Frankfurt
temporarily halt withdrawals by rattled investors, the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>New York Times
size='3'>reported today. The management firm, Frankfurt-Trust, said that
withdrawals from the fund, FT ABS-Plus, reflected jitters about the
subprime lending market in the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>United States
size='3'>, even though the fund had only minor exposure to that market.
Investors have become nervous in recent weeks as worries about credit
problems that started in subprime mortgages in the
size='3'>United States
spread to Europe and
size='3'>Asia.
size='3'>Last week, German bank IKB Deutsche Industriebank roiled the
markets when it disclosed deteriorating subprime investments. A
government-backed group agreed to bail out the bank, providing 3.5
billion euros ($4.8 billion) to cover IKB’s potential losses on
its $24 billion investment in the market.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/07/business/worldbusiness/07subprime.html?ref=business&pagewanted=print'>Read
more.
name='11'>Bankrupt YUKOS Granted Extension to Sell
Assets
A
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Moscow
extended the mandatory sale of bankrupt Russian oil company YUKOS's
remaining assets by three months, Reuters reported today. The Russian
government declared YUKOS bankrupt in early August 2006 and gave the
company 12 months to sell its assets.
size='3'>Russian state-owned oil producer Rosneft bought most of YUKOS's
oil-producing and refining assets over the past year, but the firm's
receiver has yet to sell YUKOS's foreign units and its railway
transportation division.
size='3'> The transport assets of YUKOS will
be auctioned in
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Moscow
tomorrow with a starting bid of 18.5 billion rouble
($726.3 million). YUKOS had around 7,000 railway cars prior to its
bankruptcy.
href='http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070807/3/3602i.html'>Read
more.
name='12'>TROUBLED COMPANIES IN THE NEWS
The business news
articles below are taken from the U.S. Business Journal’s Daily
Summary of Troubled & Fast Growing U.S. Companies which is published
by Bastien Financial Publications.
size='3'>ABI
50% discount off of our regular subscription rate of $500 when
subscribing to the complete Daily Summary.
To subscribe email steve@creditnews.com or call
800-407-9044—use
Code 37
Advanced
Environmental Recycling Technologies Inc., a
w:st='on'>Springdale
building supplies from recycled materials, reported a second quarter net
loss of $380,000, on a 10% revenue decline–to $25.3 million.
Aventine
Renewable Energy Holdings Inc., a
w:st='on'>
w:st='on'>Il
producer of ethanol, reported its second quarter net declined
49%–to $12.6 million, on an 11% revenue decline–to $395
million.
Axcelis
Technologies Inc., a Beverly, Ma. firm which manufactures ion
implantation devices for leading semiconductor makers, reported its
second quarter net declined 61%–to $4.7 million, on a 6.4% revenue
decline–to $110 million.
Chrysler
LLC’s future success may lie overseas. Now
80%-controlled by Cerberus Capital Management and no longer part of
Daimler after a $7.4 billion buyout transaction, the carmaker will no
longer be pressured by quarterly financial statements or other
short-term business goals. That could give the firm some time and
flexibility to regroup with new growth strategies. Now that the company
is free of Daimler, which held on to a nearly 20% interest in Chrysler,
CEO Tom LaSorda says that Chrysler may try to pursue other teamups.
Already it has signed an agreement with Chery Automobile Co., a Chinese
automaker, to produce cars for the
w:st='on'>
w:st='on'>U.S.
Chrysler could find great opportunity in overseas markets. For example,
Chrysler currently holds only about 2% of the market in
w:st='on'>Europe
Ditech Networks
Inc.’s stock price plunged to its lowest level in four
years after the
View, Ca. maker of telecom equipment reduced its
financial forecast for the first quarter. Ditech now expects
revenue for the first quarter of no more than $14.5 million, down from
earlier projections of between $21 million and $23 million.
Ford Motor
Co., Dearborn, Mi., said it will recall 2.6 million vehicles
to check for potential problems with cruise-control switches that have
been connected to fires.
Global
Industries Co., a Carlyss,
w:st='on'>
provides offshore product support services to the oil and gas
industries, reported its second quarter net income declined 34%–to
$41 million, on a 32% revenue decline–to $249 million.
Horizon Offshore
Inc., a Houston, Tx. firm which provides offshore
construction services to gas and oil companies, reported a second
quarter net loss of $6.2 million, on a 25% revenue decline–to
$117.4 million.
size='3'>HouseValues Inc., a
w:st='on'>
w:st='on'>Wa
real estate market which range from assessment to online assistance,
reported a second quarter net loss of $170,000, on a 28% revenue
decline–to $16 million.
Hutchinson
Technology Inc., a Hutchinson, Mn. firm which is an
international leader in manufacturing disk drive suspension assemblies,
reported a third quarter net loss of $13.5 million, on a 7.8% revenue
decline–to $157 million.
Kopin
Corp., a
w:st='on'>Taunton
microdisplays, was warned by Nasdaq that it has fallen out of compliance
with certain listing requirements and now faces a possible delisting of
its stock. Kopin now has until 9/25 to file already late financial
reports and any necessary restatements that might be associated with
them.
M/I Homes
Inc., Columbus, Oh., reported a second quarter net loss of
$40.2 million, on a 24% revenue decline–to $235.6 million.
Nortel
Networks Corp. of
w:st='on'>Ontario
in the third quarter will fall in the “mid-single digits”
from the year-earlier quarter, to perhaps $2.9 billion. That would
follow a disappointing second quarter that missed forecasts for both
revenue and earnings. In the second quarter, Nortel lost $37 million on
an 8% drop in revenue–to less than $2.6 billion. That compared
with a profit of $342 million in the year-earlier second quarter
size='3'>, which was
helped by proceeds from a legal settlement. Nortel blamed the weakness
in the recent quarter on a fall in revenue from telecom carriers.
Tekelec
Co., a Morrisville, N.C. maker of networking systems,
reported a second quarter net loss of $7.8 million, including a
restructuring charge of $2.4 million. Revenue declined
7.7%–to $110 million.
THQ
Inc., an Agoura Hills, Ca. publisher of video games and other
wireless devices, reported a first quarter net loss of $9.3 million.
The results compare with a net loss of $12.1 million in the
year-earlier period. Sales declined 25%–to $104.5
million.