| How the failure of subprime mortgages hurts the overall economy
Given the huge piles of consumer and business debt out there, many U.S. residents seem to think easy credit is their birthright. That cozy feeling that a loan is always within reach is getting rudely shaken. An international credit crunch is upon us. The subprime mortgage crisis spawned it, but everything from home-equity loans to business lines of credit may be touched before it's over. Sectors as disparate as auto-parts suppliers and developers of riverfront condos in Detroit are feeling the pinch of tighter credit, battering an already weak Michigan economy. "The unwinding of debt is all encompassing. It's from the little homeowner out there to the big corporation," said Larry Moss, senior vice president for the Raymond James investment firm in Birmingham. .
Gold Rush
The 1980s saw a new era in Egyptian socio-economics, one that gave rise to a new social class and provided endless material for cartoonists and entertainers alike. The wave of liberalization saw the market open up to imports, and with them came a heady rush of slipshod entrepreneurship. Small traders clamored to become wholesale importers of cheap goods; on the consumer end, people tried to make money buying and selling just about anything, while larger businessmen clawed for tawkeelaat (agencies) the right to represent a foreign company in Egypt. This fervent, and largely unregulated, economic activity gave rise to a new social class, a nouveau riche that had, through the successful manipulation of a sloppy, nascent market economy, migrated from the lowest socio-economic class up the proverbial social ladder.
Highway Patrolman receives special recognition
Promoted to sergeant in September 1999, he was transferred to the Marietta Post, then to Warren in August 2000, Canton in March 2003, and to Lisbon in October 2006. He currently resides in Alliance with his wife, Kimberly, and their three children.
The Ace Award is part of the Ohio State Highway Patrols Blue Max program, which is an incentive recognition system that rewards troopers for recovering stolen vehicles and on-the-spot suspect apprehension. Award winners receive a certificate, special Ace license plates for display on their patrol vehicle, and a uniform ribbon.
Five stolen vehicle recoveries with on-the-spot suspect apprehensions in one calendar year earn the Ace award. Since the Blue Max program inception in 1972, more than 550 Ace awards have been issued.
Key Receives 'Outstanding' Rating for Community Reinvestment Act ...
(CSRwire) For the fifth consecutive rating period, KeyBank National Association has received an "outstanding" rating for its Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) lending practices from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). This is the top rating on a four- category scale by the bank regulatory agency. The OCC cited that fewer than 10 percent of all bank-based financial services companies reviewed in the last two years received "outstanding" ratings. An even lower percentage of large, multi-state banks received the top rating, according to the OCC. This is the first rating period in which the OCC reviewed KeyBank as a single, nationwide banking unit. "I couldn't be more pleased that the OCC has recognized Key's commitment to the Community Reinvestment Act," said Jack Kopnisky, Retail Banking president.
Strongco Reports Third Quarter Results
Revenues of $100.5 million essentially consistent with the third quarter of 2006. Equipment distribution revenues declined slightly by 1.5% while revenues in the Engineered Systems segment increased 12%. The slight decline in Equipment Distribution revenues was largely the result of competitive pressures and the impact of the strengthening Canadian dollar as unit sales volumes actually increased on a comparative quarter basis.
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Halloween II: Back from the dead
But for investors, trusts for the time being still offer the same old attributes of high income and potential for capital gains. That's why it's premature to write them off as an investment. They'll never again be the force they were prior to last Oct. 31, but some of them are still worth owning. As we know, there were some businesses that didn't belong as trusts and, if the federal government hadn't stepped in, then the marketplace would have fixed it, said Dirk Lever, chief income strategist at RBC Dominion Securities Inc. But there are a whole bunch of businesses that make great trusts. They've done a very good job of delivering returns. A good trust is one based on a growing business, like CML Healthcare Income Fund, which runs a chain of medical labs, or Energy Savings Income Fund, which has increased its monthly cash payouts a staggering 28 times.
American Capital Increases Q4 Dividend 14% to $1.00
American Capital's Board of Directors has declared a fourth quarter 2007 regular dividend of $1.00 per share to record holders as of December 7, 2007, payable on January 16, 2008. This is a $0.04 per share increase over its guidance, $0.08 per share increase over the third quarter 2007 and a 14% increase over the fourth quarter 2006 dividend of $0.88 per share. American Capital has paid or declared total 2007 dividends of $3.72 per share, which are expected to be a distribution from ordinary taxable income. This is a 12% growth over the total 2006 dividends of $3.33 per share. American Capital anticipates that its 2007 ordinary taxable income will exceed dividends paid in 2007 and will elect to pay a 4% excise tax and retain excess ordinary taxable income for future dividends. LONG-TERM CAPITAL GAINS DIVIDEND POLICY American Capital also announced a change to its dividend policy for net long-term capital gains.
Federal Reserve Plays Russian Roulette with US$
In an age where governments of every political stripe distort data to promote their own self interests, it's hardly surprising that they present inflation data in a manner that is best suited to their particular needs. By the same token, it's entirely natural for official inflation data to be wildly at odds with the reality that is faced by consumers and businesses, and to be regarded with utter disbelief. So it wasn't shocking to hear Federal Reserve officials insist last week, that inflation in the United States is under control, before telegraphing another tidal wave of liquidity injections into the US economy in the months ahead. "Stable inflation expectations give the Fed a lot of room for maneuver. If the evidence suggests that substantial policy easing is appropriate, I don't think we're going to face a risk of adverse inflation consequences," said St Louis Fed chief William Poole on Jan 9th.
Officials Eye Bond Insurer Bailout
On Friday, Ambac said it was abandoning its plans to raise $1 billion, a day after Moody's Investor's Service threatened a credit downgrade. Fitch responded with a downgrade, and more such actions from Moody's and Standard & Poor's seemed likely. That raised the specter of a massive wave of wealth destruction in a global financial system that is flooded with illiquid and opaque derivative securities whose value depends on ratings supported by the insurance industry. "If one of those bond insurers fails, you're going to see a whole new round of losses," says Marta. Amid the Wednesday morning selloff, a report circulated in the credit markets from analysts at UniCredit SpA, Italy's largest bank, arguing that a government bailout plan for the bond insurers would likely be forthcoming.
Credit crunch threatens economy
Five months ago, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke shrugged aside the global financial turbulence caused by risky subprime loans and pronounced himself more concerned with inflation than credit markets. But this week after a worldwide stock market rout and gloomy spending and unemployment data, Bernanke waded into the subprime mortgage mess and offered an emergency rescue package to the banks and the credit markets where the world's growing economic unease began. Just days after Washington floated the idea of tax rebates, the Fed, motivated in part by big losses in the stock market, hastily cut its benchmark interest rate in an attempt to help banks strengthen their balance sheets -- a move authorities hoped would ultimately blunt the impending economic slowdown.
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