Reuters - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two biggest U.S. home loan finance companies, on Thursday said they would suspend foreclosures of occupied homes until early 2009, as the government moves to stem the tide of home losses plaguing the economy.
AFP - The two US mortgage finance giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said on Thursday they halt home foreclosures until early January as they modify loans to help keep owners in their homes.
Reuters - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two biggest home loan finance companies, on Thursday said they would suspend foreclosures of occupied homes until early 2009, one of the biggest moves to date by the government to stem the tide of evictions and home losses.
Reuters - The U.S. subprime mortgage crisis has sparked more than 250 class action suits against Wall Street banks and rating companies and will lead to rising regulation in 2009, top litigators said on Thursday.
Reuters - A consortium led by sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp is in talks to buy a stake of up to 49 percent in American Life Insurance Co, a unit of U.S. insurance company American International Group , the Nikkei financial daily reported.
BusinessWeek Online - The current U.S. downturn continues to generate remarkable moves in economic data. Consider the reports on U.S. consumer prices and housing starts for October, released on Nov. 19: The headline consumer price index (CPI) registered its largest monthly decline in 61 years, while housing starts reached the slowest pace of activity in the history of this data series.
AP - Mortgage lending in Britain was down 44 percent in October compared to a year ago, further evidence the economic downturn is hurting an already weak property market, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said Thursday.
Reuters - A U.S. Senate subcommittee is opening a probe into causes of the global financial crisis, focusing in part on whether bond-ratings firms, driven by conflicts of interest, boosted mortgage investments which have since collapsed, the Wall Street Journal said.