| UK lenders steer away from 100% mortgages
Mortgage lenders are withdrawing from offering 100 per cent home loans over fears that such products will now attract a flood of high-risk borrowers. Those lenders still offering 100 per cent deals are now charging interest rates of 8 per cent or more. In recent months, 10 lenders have stopped offering to advance the full value of a property, reducing the availability of these mortgages by almost one third compared with a year ago. But while brokers blame concerns over liquidity and a weakening housing market, some lenders admit they do not want to bear the cost of processing – and rejecting – applications from bad credit risks. Some providers fear as competitors withdraw from the market, they will face a sharp increase in applications. Norwich and Peterborough has now reduced its maximum loan-to-value from 100 per cent to 90 per cent.
High winds and bursts of snow on tail of arctic air
Warming continues in coming days with 40 degrees within reach Sunday and 50 degrees amid roaring 40 m.p.h.-plus winds expected to lock in Monday afternoon. Arctic air was in full retreat amid bursts of snow late Friday. South suburban Lansing picked up a quick 2 inches during the evening, and it took just 10 minutes for 0.5 inches to fall at Midway Airport. The South Side's seasonal 2007-08 total reached more than 27 inches--3 1/2 times last year's 8 inches total by this date.
READINGS RISE 40 DEGREES FAR WEST
Far west suburban Rochelle, where readings bottomed out at a new winter low of 22 degrees below zero Friday, had warmed 40 degrees to 18 above by evening. Rockford's 16 below Friday morning was its coldest since December of 2000.
.
Islam on marriage
The overview commentary of the said Sura also deals with the family, the nucleus and the foundation of Muslims society, to which Islam has extended notable attention and effort, regulating its essential aspects and ensuring its safety and protection against abuse and disintegration. Such attention is reflected in several Quranic suras and addresses all necessary elements to ensure the strong foundation of the family in Muslim society.
The Islamic social order is family-based by virtue of its being a Divinely-Ordained system for human society that takes full account of the essentials of human nature and its basic requirements.
Its ingredients originate with the very essence of life itself, as stated in the Holy Quran when it says "Of all things We have created a pair (male and female), so that you may give thought." (51:49) "Limitless in His glory is He who has created pairs of whatever the earth produces, of your own kind, and of that which they (people) have no knowledge." (36:36)
Human life began with one person, out of whom came a spouse, and then offspring from the pair of them, and so on.
S&P Stock Picks and Pans: Microsoft, Countrywide Financial, Merrill ...
CFC posts third quarter operating loss of $2.12 vs. EPS of $1.02, $0.63 wider than our loss estimate. Results were hurt by the writedown of securities, higher provisions, restructuring charges and a 27% sequential drop in loan volume, reflecting higher standards and transfer of production to CFC's bank operation. The one bright spot was CFC's loan servicing sector, which posted pre-tax earnings of $681 million before the impact of valuation adjustments. Non-performing assets/assets jumped to 1.65% from 1.26% in the second quarter. CFC expects to be profitable in the fourth quarter. Will update after conference call. - S. Plesser S&P REITERATES BUY OPINION ON SHARES OF MERRILL LYNCH (MER; 65.00) An unconfirmed report in the New York Times says that Merrill Lynch CEO Stanley O'Neal's job may be in jeopardy after he approached a Wachovia Corp.
FACTBOX: Write-downs and losses at major global banks
Date Bank Write-down or Type of loss Period covered credit loss Jan 22 Bank of America $5.3 bln Collateralized debt obligations 4th qtr Jan 22 Wachovia $1.5 bln Credit losses 4th qtr Jan 15 Citigroup $18.1 bln Subprime mortgages 4th qtr Jan 15 Citigroup $4.1 bln Consumer loans 4th qtr Dec 20 Bear Stearns $1.9 bln subprime mortgages 4th qtr Dec 19 Morgan Stanley $9.4 bln mortgages and assets 4th qtr Dec 13 Lehman Brothers $830 mln real estate, asset-backed securities 4th qtr Dec 10 UBS AG $10 bln subprime mortgages 4th qtr Dec 6 Royal Bank Scotland $2.5 bln investment banking 2007* Nov 15 Barclays $2.6 bln subprime mortgages 2007 Nov 13 Scotiabank C$135 mln asset-backed commercial paper 4th qtr ($141 mln) structured credit Nov 13 Royal Bank Canada C$160 mln subprime mortgages 4th qtr ($168 mln) Nov 6 Capital One $4.9-5.5 bln credit losses 2008 Nov 14 HSBC $3.4 bln mortgages 3rd qtr Nov 6 Commerzbank 300 mln euros subprime mortgages 3rd qtr ($440.5 mln) October 24 Merrill Lynch $8.4 bln CDOs, subprime 3rd qtr (Reporting by Ed Leefeldt, editing by John Wallace) .
Do homework for best loan
The right home loan could save you thousands Do your homework and work out what features you want Consider flexibility and charges THE perfect home loan could save you thousands of dollars, be used to create significant personal wealth, or have you owning your home sooner. But the first step in finding the perfect loan is preparation, according to industry experts. "The first thing is do your homework and decide what sort of loan is suitable for you because you're likely to have this loan for 25 or 30 years,'' Community CPS Australia chief executive Kevin Benger said. Some things to consider include whether you want a fixed or variable interest rate or a mixture of both, ensuring you are aware of all fees and charges associated with the loan, and whether you could make additional repayments.
|
