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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, U.S. mortgage applications plunged last week, and demand hit the lowest level since the start of the year as interest rates surged. The industry Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications, which includes both purchase and refinance loans, for the week ended Feb. 15 fell 22.6 percent… Continue reading Mortgage Applications Hit Lowest Level

The trouble the real estate market is experience can well extend to the area of professional liability coverage for the real estate industry, with potential lawsuits cropping up. One such case is the married couple in San Diego County who have sued their real estate agency. They maintain that they paid too much for their… Continue reading Real Estate Downturn Could Impact E&0 as Lawsuits Crop Up

Joseph Brown who is back on the job and replaced Gary Dunton as CEO of MBIA said he may reach an agreement by the end of the week to save the bond insurer’s AAA rating. Brown, named CEO yesterday stated that MBIA, the world’s largest bond insurer, may split its guarantee business into two or… Continue reading MBIA’s Goal to Save AAA Rating with Brown’s Return

On Tuesday, Saint Paul, MN-based Travelers Companies Inc, one of the largest U.S. property and casualty insurers, stated that an appeals court overturned a March 2006 New York district court’s approval of the company’s settlement of asbestos-related litigation. Travelers aid it does not intend to boost its asbestos reserves, as a result of the appeals… Continue reading Decision in Travelers Asbestos-Related Settlement Overturned

Zurich-based Credit Suisse Group announced that it discovered pricing errors on bonds, which will result in lowering first-quarter profit by about $1 billion. The announcement prompted the biggest share decline in more than five years.    Switzerland’s second-largest bank took $2.85 billion of write-downs on asset-backed securities after an internal review found “mismarkings” by a… Continue reading Bond Pricing Errors Will Result in $1B First-Quarter Cut for Credit Suisse

The world’s second-largest reinsurer by gross premium income, Germany’s Munich Re AG on Tuesday said it expects the combined ratio in its non-life reinsurance business, a key profitability and performance measure, to deteriorate further this year, due to falling rates for contracts that will be renewed. This is another indication by the reinsurer that 2008… Continue reading Munich Re: 2008 Will be Challenging

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. posted a 4% rise in fiscal fourth-quarter net income, helped by strong international revenue, but the retail giant noted cautious consumer spending and said it expects earnings in the current quarter to come in below analysts’ expectations.    For the quarter ended Jan. 31, the discount retailer reported net income of $4.1… Continue reading Wal-Mart’s Fourth-Quarter Net Profit Rose, Boosted by International Revenue

Under one plan floated by the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Insurance to quell market unease over the outlook for major financial guaranty insurers, Congress could move quickly to extend a reinsurance-type line of credit guaranteeing the insurance undergirding trillions of dollars in municipal debt obligations. The proposal, suggested by the subcommittee’s… Continue reading Congress Could Extend Liquidity to Bond Insurers

Today MBIA Inc, which is mired in the bond insurance industry-wide crisis, announced that former Chief Executive Jay Brown was returning to the company to replace the current CEO, Gary Dunton.    Brown said in a statement that he had already spoken to New York State Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo, who is trying to devise… Continue reading MBIA Former CEO Back in His Old Post

The Xinhua news agency said on Monday that China plans to launch an insurance system to cover environmental disasters, aiming to ensure that the victims of major pollution incidents receive due compensation.    According to Xinhua, Mr. Pan Yue, deputy head of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA, stated that the system would start out… Continue reading China Announces Plan for Environmental Disaster Insurance Program