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Calabasas, California-based mortgage lender Countrywide Financial announced today that it lost $893 million during the first quarter due to a sharp increase in its provision for loan losses.    The company says it lost $893 million, or $1.60 per share, during the first quarter. Countrywide has said it earned $434 million, or 72 cents per… Continue reading Trouble Times Still Plague Countrywide as it Posts $893 Million in Losses

According to the Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller home price index released on Tuesday, prices of existing US single-family homes extended their slump in February, with 17 of the 20 measured regions posting record annual declines.    The composite month-over-month index of 20 metropolitan areas fell 2.6 percent to 175.94 in February from January, for an… Continue reading Home Prices Continue Decline

On Monday Morgan Stanley analysts advised clients to “sell the rally” in financial stocks, slashing forecasts for big bank earnings and warning that the current credit crunch is only just beginning.    In aggregate, Morgan Stanley reduced its estimates for 2008 large bank earnings by $17 billion, or 26 percent, and reduced 2009 forecasts by… Continue reading Morgan Stanley Advises Clients to Sell the Rally in Financial Stocks

It looks as if the Federal Reserve is set to deliver a small interest rate cut on Wednesday, though the central bank could signal that this is the last in a cycle as officials eye inflation warily.     The Fed has already cut interest rates to 2.25 percent from 5.25 percent in six steps… Continue reading Fed Set to Make Another Rate Cut

The insurance industry came out against a recent national study by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA). In a nutshell, the study examined automobile insurance regulation over the last two decades and stated that rates have risen more slowly in the fifteen states that require insurers to receive advance approval of rate increases from the… Continue reading Industry Reacts Strongly Against CFA’s Auto Insurance Rate Study

J.P. Morgan Securities upgraded Safeco Corp to “neutral” from “underweight,” citing the likelihood of the acquisition of the insurer by Liberty Mutual Group going forward.    Auto and home insurer Liberty Mutual has agreed to buy property and casualty insurer Safeco for $6.2 billion.    “We are reasonably comfortable that the acquisition will be completed… Continue reading Safeco Gets Upgrade by J.P. Morgan Amid Acquisition by Liberty Mutual

Commercial insurer CNA Financial Corp, whose majority owner is Loews Corp, announced earlier today that its first-quarter profit fell 37 percent to $187 million on declining premiums and investment losses.     “There certainly is a measurable amount of pressure” on insurance prices, according to CNA Chief Executive Officer Stephen Lilienthal.     CNA’s sales… Continue reading First-Quarter Profits Down for CNA as Soft Market Makes Impact

Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s new municipal bond insurance arm, established in late December 2007 by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, received Moody’s Investors Service’s top rating, citing its fast growth despite a credit crunch. This is the insurer’s second top rating, with Standard & Poor’s Rating Services being the first with its highest triple A rate.   … Continue reading Buffett’s Muni Bond Carrier Gets Top Rating from Moody

The U.S. Census Bureau stated today that the share of U.S. homes owned but sitting empty edged up in the first quarter to a record high 2.9 percent.     This was the third consecutive quarter in which the homeowner vacancy rate rose, reflecting the difficulty homeowners are having selling homes amid the deep U.S.… Continue reading Empty Homes on the Rise

According to a special report by AM Best, Bermuda-based property/casualty insurance companies have posted strong results in 2006 and 2007 after two years of unprecedented hurricane losses, although industry fundamentals are expected to continue deteriorating.     “The overwhelming conclusion is that the majority of carriers on the island are financially strong, benefiting from record… Continue reading AM Best: Bermuda Carriers Bounce Back But Pressure is Still On