Finance Globe

President Obama, while vacationing on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, announced Tuesday morning that he nominated Ben Bernanke for a second four-year term as head of the Federal Reserve.Obama opened his announcement by saying that Bernanke "has led the Fed through one of the worst financial crises that this nation and the world has ever faced. As an expert on the causes of the Great Depression, I'm sure Ben never imagined that he would be part of...

Speaking at an annual conference in Wyoming, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave an optimistic view of the economy on Friday. Bernanke said that Federal Reserve policies implemented in recent months have helped to stabilize a number of key financial markets across the globe.Bernanke said, "Short-term funding markets are functioning more normally, corporate bond issuance has been strong, and activity in some previously moribund securitization markets has picked up. Stock prices have partially recovered, and U.S....

Sales of existing homes have increased for four months in a row for July, according to a report released today by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).Existing-home sales - including single-family, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops - increased 7.2% to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.24 million units in July from a level of 4.89 million in June, NAR reported. The rate of sales in July was 5% higher than it was a year ago.The last time...

Mortgage application volume increased for the week ending August 14, according to a report released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 5.6% on a seasonally-adjusted basis from the previous week. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 4.8% from the previous week, and increased 25% compared to the same week a year ago.The Refinance Index increased 6.9%, after a 7.2% decrease in the week...

New construction of homes dipped in July following a surge in June, according to a joint report released today by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of the Census.Overall permits to build privately-owned housing units decreased to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 560,000 - down 1.8% from the revised rate of 560,000 in June, and down 39.4% from the July 2008 estimate of 924,000. Permits for single-family homes gained...

Builder confidence in August rose one point to its highest point in over a year, according to the latest reading of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). After a two point gain in July, the HMI reached 18 this month - its highest point since June 2008. NAHB Chairman Joe Robson, a home builder from Tulsa, Oklahoma, said that the success of the first-time home buyer credit has buoyed home...

Layoffs in the job market appear to be easing somewhat, though continued claims show that Americans are still having trouble finding work.There were 550,000 new claims - seasonally-adjusted - for unemployment benefits in the week ending August 1st, according to a government report released today.This is a decrease of 38,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 588,000. The four-week moving average - which smooths out fluctuations - was 555,250, down 4,750 from the previous week's...

Pending home sales were up for the fifth straight month in June, according to a report released yesterday by the National Association of Realtors. It was six years ago - June 2003 - the last time the pending home sales index rose for five consecutive months.The pending homes sale index is a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in June. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has...

On Monday, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that Michigan was awarded $32 million and Iowa received $16 million in Recovery Act funding to go towards energy projects.Then ten states on Wednesday were awarded a total of more than $204 million to fund energy programs: Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and Washington.“This funding will provide an important boost for state economies, help to put Americans back to work and move...

A bogus mortgage foreclosure prevention operation has been charged with violating the FTC Act by fraudulently claiming they could prevent foreclosure.The fake company not only failed to deliver on their promises and refused to deliver the guaranteed refund to troubled homeowners, but also misrepresented the earnings potential of a "loss mitigation consultant" business opportunity that they sold.The business activities of Arizona-based Freedom Foreclosure Prevention Services, LLC, Loss Mitigation Training Center of America, LLC, Jeffrey C. Segal,...