luigi0753

Do Banks Have an Obligation to Lend?

I am amazed at the number of people who don't realize that lending is a two-way street. We were planning on buying a second car back in October, but our investment portfolio dropped so much (could have bought 3 cars with the lost value) that we decided not to. I already had loans approved at two banks - I just had to decide which one to go with. Normal lending activity will not improve until borrowers aren't worried about losing their jobs.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

I'm amazed at the new "procedure" at Fannie Mae - isn't that what caused these problems in the first place?!

BofA Offers World’s Worst Borrowers Astonishing Concessions

Let me amend the preceding - Congress has already made forgiven loan proceeds non-taxable for the primary residence - my argument for balloon payments stands.

BofA Offers World’s Worst Borrowers Astonishing Concessions

The next problem to arise after a bank "forgives" part of a loan will be how to pay the income tax on the imputed income. As a loan, the funds are not taxable, but if forgiven by the bank the money IS taxable. $50,000 of extra income could cost these "unfortunate" homeowners $7,500 to $12,500 in income tax! The loan modification process should include a balloon payment at the end - reduce the loan amount upon which interest is charged, but add the reduction (or better, double the reduction) as a balloon payment at the end of the term. If the homeowner stays in the home for 30 years the house will likely be worth much more then than now. The balloon payment could be refinanced in 30 years and will likely be a small part of the fair market value of the home at that time. In my view it's better to kick the can down the road (so to speak) than have the bank or taxpayer pick up the tab for poor financial decisions on the part of an individual. Of course, if the loan was deceptive from the beginning, then the bank or mortgage company needs to eat it.

BofA: No More 'Typical' Wall Street Pay at Merrill

They can update their resumes til hell freezes - who they going to go to work for - Lehman? Bear Stearns?

Forget $100 a Barrel - Oil Will Plummet to $30

What's the backup plan for wind? If the wind isn't blowing today where do we get electricity? You can't quickly fire up an idle nuke plant - why would you want a nuke plant sitting idle anyway? You need a source of juice that can come on line quickly when the wind stops. If oil goes to $75 and gas goes to $2.50 you'll see a surge in SUV sales. If all these alternative energy solutions are so great, why haven't the Europeans done them already, since they've been paying much higher prices for gasoline (due to taxes) for many, many years.

Crude Reality: Big Oil's Purposely Restricting Supply

Please explain how US big oil companies which provide about 10% of the world's oil CONTROLS the price.

How Evil is Exxon-Mobil?

The politician is Chucky Schumer, NY's senior senator; complaining about Exxon's earnings is a quarterly ritual of his.

Wells Fargo Should Fall Back to Earth as Analysts Voice Skepticism

The 3 cent dividend increase will "expend" an additional $369 million over the next 12 months. That's fairly insignificant, in my view (I'll get about $48 of it!) lol