Category Archives: Finance News

Zillow: Home Price Declines Slow

August 27, 2011   Alexander Stewart   No comments

U.S. home values in June showed their smallest rate of decline since the start of the housing recession, according to new figures from the real estate analytical firm Zillow.

The 0.08 percent decline from May to June was greeted as an encouraging development, continuing a trend of steadily shrinking monthly declines throughout 2011. However, the news was tempered by the observation that the housing market continues to be weighed down by a massive backlog of foreclosures, which will need to be cleared out before a true recovery in home values can begin.   On an annual basis, prices were down 6.2 percent from June 2010, also a small improvement over last month’s figures.   Read the full post

  Tags: Home, Home Price

IAG Buys Stake In Chinese Insurer

August 27, 2011   Alexander Stewart   No comments

Australian insurance major IAG is diversifying its earnings base by taking a strategic stake in Chinese general insurance company Bohai Property Insurance.

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  Tags: Chinese, Chinese Insurer

S&P Drop Causes Panic Among Various Financial Advisers and Clients

August 27, 2011   Alexander Stewart   No comments

Savings Accounts and Money Market Rates provided by 9 August 2011 Coming swiftly on the heels of the August 5 downgrade of the U.S. credit rating – from AAA to the less-than-perfect AA+ – by influential ratings agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P), the firm’s S&P 500 futures index reported a drop of six percent on Monday, August 8. This has brought considerable additional consternation to some already-panicked financial advisers and their clients, according to Reuters.

This recent drop is the most significant to hit the S&P 500 in almost three years, since the major financial crisis of 2008.

Numerous advisers found clients calling in a frenzy, hoping to sell their existing assets in the fear that they would lose value. Read the full post

U.S. Stock Prices Continue to Fall

August 26, 2011   Alexander Stewart   No comments

Savings Accounts and Money Market Rates provided by 10 August 2011 All of the groups in the Standard and Poor’s (S&P) 500 index were subject to drops of at least two percent on August 10. Several major U.S. stocks experienced drops of over nine percent, including Bank of America, Citigroup Inc. and Walt Disney Company, and the overall S&P 500 index dropped by a total of 3.9 percent, according to Bloomberg.

This recent drop can be considered part of the continuing trend of decline in the major financial index. Since it reported its highest 2011 numbers on April 29, the S&P 500 futures have dropped a total of 14 percent.

Approximately $2.6 trillion worth of U.S. Read the full post

Long Recovery Seen for Home Prices

July 27, 2011   Alexander Stewart   No comments

U.S. home prices will likely take eight to ten years to recover to their precrash levels, if past history is any guide, with significant implications for the overall economy as well.

That’s according to a new report on U.S. housing and mortgage trends from the financial and business analysis firm CoreLogic. Among other things, it suggests that consumer spending, which makes up two-thirds of the economy, will continue to be constrained as long as home prices remain depressed.   The report notes the current downturn and gradual stabilization of home prices is following a similar track to some of the worst regional housing price declines from the late 20th century. Th Read the full post

  Tags: Home Prices, Prices

Consumers Prepare for Consequences of Possible U.S. Government Debt Default

July 27, 2011   Alexander Stewart   No comments

Savings Accounts and Money Market Rates provided by 28 July 2011 The August 2 deadline for the U.S. federal debt crisis, when the government must pay its debts or default, is fast approaching. American consumers are monitoring the process and preparing for potential effects on their personal finances, according to the Boston Globe.

Unlike the national financial crisis of 2008, the major markets on Wall Street have not shown extreme strain in the face of this issue. However, the Globe reports that this is not necessarily a sign that the new crisis is less serious, noting that stock prices fell noticeably yesterday, July 27.

The likely consequences of an August 2 default will be damage to the retirement accounts and investments of American consumers due to the devaluation of U.S. Read the full post

  Tags: Debt Default, Default
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