| Subprime Debacle Traps Even Very Credit-Worthy
One common assumption about the subprime mortgage crisis is that it revolves around borrowers with sketchy credit who couldn't have bought a home without paying punitively high interest rates. But it turns out that plenty of people with seemingly good credit are also caught in the subprime trap. An analysis for The Wall Street Journal of more than $2.5 trillion in subprime loans made since 2000 shows that as the number of subprime loans mushroomed, an increasing proportion of them went to people with credit scores high enough to often qualify for conventional loans with far better terms. In 2005, the peak year of the subprime boom, the study says that borrowers with such credit scores got more than half -- 55% -- of all subprime mortgages that were ultimately packaged into securities for sale to investors, as most subprime loans are.
Clash of the paradigms
Ongoing uncertainties left the stock market mixed for the final week of the quarter. The Dow increased 0.6% (up 11.5% y-t-d), while the S&P500 was little changed (up 7.6%). The Utilities were hit for 1.6% (up 8.0%), while the Morgan Stanley Consumer index gained 0.8% (up 7.4%). The Morgan Stanley Cyclical index increased 0.5% (up 18.8%), and the Transports added 0.2% (up 6.1%). The broader market appeared increasingly vulnerable. The small cap Russell 2000 declined 0.9% (up 2.3%), while the
S&P400 Mid-cap index gained 0.4% (up 10.0%). The high-flying NASDAQ100 jumped 2%, increasing y-t-d gains to 19.0%. The Morgan Stanley High Tech index rose 1.6% (up 17.6%), while the Semiconductors dipped 0.2% (up 6.9%). The Street.com Internet Index gained 1.4% (up 17.3%), and the NASDAQ Telecommunications index surged 2.7% (up 23.1%).
Stocks: A Big Blue Bounce
Stocks gained ground Monday, attempting to recapture large losses from the first two weeks of the year. News from the financial sector continued to worry investors Monday, with Merrill Lynch (MER) still looking for extra capital and smaller banks reporting hits from deteriorating credit. News reports also circulated of a potential $24 billion writedown from Citigroup (C). But technology giant IBM (IBM) offered investors some rare good news. In the early afternoon on Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 117.54 points, or 0.93%, to 12,723.84. The broader S&P 500 index moved 7.71 points, or 0.55%, higher to 1,408.73. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 21.4 points, or 0.88%, to 2,461.34. Twenty stocks were rising for every nine falling on the New York Stock Exchange, while the ratio on the Nasdaq was 17 to 10 positive.
Beautiful Miss Idaho in LCHS Parade
Below, Family Phil's shot of historic downtown Wallace. BTW, Phil has a Little-Ears-Have-Big-Windows post here. *HBO's still trying to figure out what Stebbijo/Your Choice means by done-r here. *CDADave/Thin Air is trying out a new look as he prepares to return to the HBO blogosphere in a big way on Monday. He's asking folks what they think here. *Amy Crooks/That's Life. Life Goes On sounds as though she's been working hard for her money and not blogging too much here. *Marianne Love/Slight Detour has some fascinating historical info about Bonner County, including how Hoodoo Creek was formed and how Sagle got its name after losing out to Eagle in southern Idaho here. Also: Herb Huseland/Bay Views puts in his 2 cents about the inheritance tax here, Digital Fog has another fine parody here, ErinG/Idaho Native is getting nervous about the birth process here and Cis Gors/From A Simple Mind analyzes an online quiz she took here.
ALL BUSINESS: Cost cutting nightmare
Last updated January 11, 2008 9:19 a.m. PT ALL BUSINESS: Cost cutting nightmare By RACHEL BECK
AP BUSINESS WRITER NEW YORK -- Corporate leaders who think they can slash expenses without customers noticing might want to give Circuit City Stores Inc.'s top brass a call. The electronics retailer is living the nightmare of cost-cutting gone bad. The Richmond, Va.-based company has been in a downward spiral since it announced last spring that it would lay off thousands of experienced workers it candidly said it could replace with cheaper new hires. Too bad that service matters in that corner of the retail market. Shoppers quickly noticed and fled - leaving Circuit City's sales and profits plunging. Its same-store holiday sales, reported on Monday, fell 11.4 percent.
Jassi Jaisa Koi Nahi
Having swept the music industry eversince he stepped in, Jasbir Jassi (of Dil le gayee kudi Gujrat ki fame) is back, after a good gap of four years, to see his fans groove yet again to his forthcoming pop album.
One of the most popular Punjabi pop artistes, the singer sure seems to have no airs about the fact. So even as we seek him, while he was in town to perform live at a prominent club to get an interview, Jassi happily spares time for LT.
We start straight by asking him about his upcoming album. “The album is actually a blend of Punjabi folk, Sufi and pop, and it took me the longest time to compile this album.
I've tried to maintain an authentic Punjabi folk flavour in the songs, which one rarely finds in Punjabi pop albums.
|
