Posted Jul 2nd 2009 12:50PM by Mark Fightmaster
Filed under: Law, Housing, Recession
On Wednesday, federal investigators filed mortgage and accounting fraud charges against Beazer Homes USA (NYSE: BZH). The homebuilder will be able to escape prosecution because it agreed to pay $50 million to victims and to accept responsibility for its improper actions.
Beazer found itself charged thanks to its participation in a scheme designed to fraudulently increase its profits and sell homes. Reportedly, the company also participated in an accounting scheme that was designed to "smooth earnings." Thanks to these schemes, homebuyers defaulted on their loans and some neighborhoods saw home values plummet thanks to loan defaults. State and federal investigators have scrutinized Beazer since March 2007, finding that the company's "aggressive sales tactics" contributed to an "unusually high foreclosure rate in many of its local starter-home communities."
Continue reading Beazer Homes USA will pay victims $50 million
Posted Jul 1st 2009 3:35PM by Zac Bissonnette
Filed under: Industry, Housing
The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that "The Dow Jones Equity All REIT Total Return Index, which tracks 114 publicly traded REIT stocks, rose 28.9% in the April-June period, the biggest quarterly gain for the index since it debuted in 1989."
REITs still have a long, long way to go until they've regained the ground they've lost during the real estate rout -- they were down 31.6% in the first quarter and 38.8% in the fourth quarter of last year.
Continue reading REITs have a record second quarter: Who saw that coming?
Posted Jul 1st 2009 7:37AM by Melly Alazraki
Filed under: Before the bell, International markets, Market matters, Economic data, Oil, Housing

U.S. stock futures were higher Wednesday morning as stocks were ready to start off the third quarter on a positive note. However, several key economic reports are due out this morning, including reports on manufacturing, employment and housing. Recently, manufacturing has shown improvement in other parts of the world.
Stocks finished the second quarter Tuesday on a down note, but that couldn't erase the advances indices made during the quarter with the Dow Jones Industrial Average finishing the second quarter up 11 percent, the S&P 500 rose 15 percent and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 20 percent.
Continue reading Before the bell: Futures higher ahead of employment, manufacturing, housing data
Posted Jun 30th 2009 10:40AM by Tom Johansmeyer
Filed under: Economic data, Housing, Recession, Financial Crisis
Early estimates of a contraction in the U.K. economy were not enough. First quarter 2009 estimates were revisited, showing a 2.4% fall in gross domestic product from the last quarter of 2008 to 2009. This downward revision made the first three months of the year the worst since people wore skinny ties, hated communism, and bore nicknames like "Buzz."
In the second quarter of 1958, U.K. GDP plummeted 2.6%, though the 2.4% threshold matches the depths hit in 1979. The original 2009 Q1 estimate was -1.9%, according to the Office for National Statistics in London.
Continue reading U.K. economy has worst quarter since 1958
Posted Jun 30th 2009 7:37AM by Melly Alazraki
Filed under: Before the bell, International markets, Market matters, Economic data, Oil, Housing

U.S. stock futures were higher Tuesday morning, indicating that on the last day of the second quarter and first half of 2009 Wall Street is poised to start on a positive tone. Seems investors were ready to extend the biggest rally stocks have staged in a quarter in about a decade . Investors this morning also await several economic indicators -- including housing and consumer confidence -- due out later this morning, hoping further signs the economy have stabilized are in the cards and a recovery is ahead in the second half of the year.
At 9:00 a.m. EDT, the Conference Board will release the June Consumer Confidence index, which is expected to have risen to 55.3 from 54.9, according to Briefing.com. The housing sector will also be in focus as at the same time the S&P/Case Shiller 20-city home price index for April is expected to show a decline from the year ago period. FInally, at 9:45 a.m., June's Chicago PMI, a regional manufacturing index, is expected to show it rose in June.
Continue reading Before the bell: Futures higher ahead of housing, confidence data
Posted Jun 26th 2009 9:30AM by Jim Cramer
Filed under: Market matters, Citigroup Inc. (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Economic data, Wells Fargo (WFC), Housing, Cramer on BloggingStocks, Recession, Financial Crisis
TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the endless worries will prove bogus, and jobs creation could spur a real lift. Alt-A. Endless bank foreclosures. Commercial real estate. These are the big three worries that will not be killed by data, rigor or common sense, no matter what happens.
Doesn't it occur to anyone that there already should have been a big spike in commercial real estate losses by now? That the decline in the economy has lasted long enough that it should have manifested itself? Doesn't anyone think that there should have been a big commercial real estate bad-debt bump at a
Citigroup (NYSE:
C) (
Cramer's Take) or a
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:
JPM) (
Cramer's Take) or a
Wells Fargo (NYSE:
WFC) (
Cramer's Take)?
Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Real estate turnaround
Posted Jun 24th 2009 5:30PM by Michael Fowlkes
Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, Products and services, Industry, Competitive strategy, Market matters, Lennar Corp'A' (LEN), Housing, Recession, Financial Crisis

We will get a little better idea of just what is happening with the real estate market tomorrow when home builder
Lennar Corporation (NYSE:
LEN)
reports its second quarter results.
Headed into tomorrow's earnings announcement, analysts are expecting another loss, but a much smaller loss than the company reported for its first quarter. Last quarter we saw a loss of
98 cents per share. This quarter analysts are predicting a loss of "only" 63 cents per share.
Continue reading Lennar second quarter earnings preview
Posted Jun 24th 2009 5:10PM by Joseph Lazzaro
Filed under: Housing

Looking for new digs? Well if you're a person or a couple of means, you could snare
film producer Bob Weinstein's place on Central Park West in Manhattan,
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday (
Subscription required).
The 6,500-square-foot, 14-room duplex is in the glamorous Beresford Building and features six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a family room, formal dining room, two balconies, three fireplaces, and a library, the
Real Estalker notes. Continue reading House hunting? How about this spread in the capital of the world
Posted Jun 24th 2009 7:42AM by Melly Alazraki
Filed under: Before the bell, International markets, Market matters, Economic data, Oil, Housing, Federal Reserve

U.S. stock futures advanced Wednesday morning, pointing to a higher open on Wall Street, but trading is expected to be cautious as investors await the Federal Reserve policy statement this afternoon, which would also give clues about the state of the economy. Meanwhile, another group said the global recession is near a bottom, but flared up concerns over banks again. More economic data due out later this morning could the market a better sense of direction.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Wednesday the deepest global recession in over 60 years is
close to bottoming out. While this view may be more optimistic than the World Bank's or the IMF recently, the OECD has similar projections regarding the recovery, which will be weak unless governments do more to remove uncertainty over banks' balance sheets.
Continue reading Before the bell: Stocks set to advance as OECD sees bottoming; investors await Fed statement
Posted Jun 23rd 2009 7:40AM by Melly Alazraki
Filed under: Before the bell, International markets, Market matters, Economic data, Oil, Housing, Federal Reserve

U.S. stock futures advanced Tuesday morning, pointing to a higher open on Wall Street, a day after markets sold off sharply. Today is the first day of the Federal Reserve policy meeting, but a statement is not expected until tomorrow. Meanwhile, investors will look at more housing data and focus on Moody's saying it will maintain the United States' credit rating at triple-A.
Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday that the
U.S. government's triple-A credit rating was safe. But echoing financial markets concers, the credit rating agency said U.S.'s rating could be at risk if Washington were unable to bring its public debt back down.
Continue reading Before the bell: Stock futures advance as Moody's reiterates U.S. rating
Posted Jun 22nd 2009 10:40AM by Elizabeth Harrow
Filed under: Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Politics, Housing
Outspoken congressman Barney Frank has no shortage of critics, and they're sure to be out in force today. This morning, The Wall Street Journal reported that the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, along with his colleague Anthony Weiner, is actually recommending that Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) relax their lending standards on condominiums.
The controversial request follows a decision by both Fannie and Freddie to tighten mortgage-lending standards for condos. In March, Fannie said it would no longer guarantee mortgages on condos in buildings where fewer than 70% of units have been rented, up from its previous benchmark of 51%. Freddie is due to implement similar measures in July. In a letter to the CEOs of both mortgage lenders, Reps. Frank and Weiner expressed their concerns that the higher standard "may be too onerous," and asked the lenders to "make appropriate adjustments" to their approach.
Continue reading Barney Frank encourages Fannie, Freddie to relax lending standards
Posted Jun 16th 2009 6:00PM by Michael Fowlkes
Filed under: Major movement, Forecasts, Good news, Market matters, Money and Finance Today, Economic data, Housing, Recession, Financial Crisis

It was the largest jump in three months, as new home construction
increased by 17.2% during the last month.
The increase was much higher than analysts had been expecting, and last month we moved up to an annual rate of 532,000 units... well above the 500,000 units that had been forecast.
Continue reading New home construction jumps in May
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