There’s only one word to describe what took place in the financial markets last week - ugly.
You probably don’t need to glance at the box score below to know that stocks dropped significantly last week. Monday’s dizzying drop of 777 points in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, attributed to the House of Representative’s failure to [...]

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You read right. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were seized by the government today, the goal being to rectifying the disaster that’s taken place over the last year in the housing and mortgage debacle. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and the Director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise, James Lockhart, laid out a plan that [...]

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As we wrapped up the traditional end of summer last week, buyers and sellers were scarce on Wall Street.
For the first three trading sessions last week, volume on the New York Stock Exchange was the lowest of the year, according to Briefing.com. Apparently, investors decided it was time to relax a bit. Unfortunately, for [...]

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While it’s dropped in recent weeks, it’s no secret that the price of oil is at record levels, jacking up how much you pay each week for a gallon of gas. And while it’s been likely a non-factor over the past few months in terms of how much you’re paying to keep your house warm [...]

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The tug of war in the stock market ended in just about a draw last week as the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose a fraction.
Since the beginning of the year, the S&P 500 index has traded in a range roughly between 1,215 and 1,450, according to data from Yahoo! Finance. However, when you consider [...]

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It’s no secret subprime mortgage borrowers default. But now it’s getting worse. Borrowers of prime mortgages are starting to default, and that spells trouble for a housing market already grasping for air.
Prime mortgages, or mortgages made to borrowers with good credit, are normally seen as safer bets for lenders, at least until now, anyway. Last [...]

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Despite a 15.2% drop in the price of a barrel of oil last week, the stock market finished mixed as weak jobs and housing data took center stage, according to MSN Money.
The Labor Department helped sour the market last Thursday by reporting another rise in first-time claims for state unemployment benefits. That kept fears of [...]

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Investing can be a bit like the weather on Mount Rainier in June-very unpredictable. You could have a horrendous blizzard one day and then a glorious, warm sunny day the next. That just about sums up the recent action on Wall Street.
The daily mood swings on Wall Street were evident last week as the [...]

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Knowing Your Credit Score Saves You Money
Knowing and understanding what your credit score means is key to opening up your financial options, a fact I thought was well known but apparently not so says a joint study by the Consumer Federation of America and Washington Mutual Bank (where I once worked).
Credit scores are one [...]

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Bernanke to the Rescue for Homebuyers of the Future?
Dubious lending practices and borrowers less-than-educated in the realities facing them under certain borrowing terms could be a thing of the past. At least if Ben Bernanke has his way. Next week the Fed will be issuing new rules that seek to protect homebuyers from the disastrous [...]

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