| 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.
Where to take your portfolio next
One other benefit to savings accounts: your money is liquid and you can cash out if you want to buy a house in two years (maybe housing prices have come down nicely by then). If you're in stocks, you could face the prospect of wanting to sell at a point when the market has eaten a big hole in your capital. Dennis Harris from Ottawa asks: Hi Rob; I am considering preferred shares as an option for long term income. TD bank and BNS are advertising preferred shares at 5.6%, which is very tempting. However, a yield that high suggests to me that there must be some risk involved. I would greatly appreciate it if you would explain the downside to owning preferred shares. Thank you. Rob Carrick: Dennis, this is a savvy question. Preferreds, to my mind, are one of the more interesting corners of the stock market right now.
Music | One-man mayhem
The unique vocal and maraca stylings of bodyguard, equipment tech, and utility man Beer Belly Slim (aka Lewis Brown) are present in abundance, making "Picking Up Beer Cans on the Highway" so poignant and immediate that you might almost swear you can smell the roadkill and feel the whoosh of the big rigs as they speed past. The disc is available on local label Honey, which has previously issued other examples of the Henderson oeuvre, including the deliciously greasy 45 "Love on You" b/w "Drag Strip," a triumphant slice of lo-fi that makes the Centromatic Band sound like the Vienna Philharmonic. Henderson is currently selling the disc at his shows, and it's also available direct from Honey (P.O. Box 141199-672, Dallas, TX 75214). Check it out. Homer Henderson opens for the Old 97's Thursday, June 19, at the Sons of Hermann Hall.
New notebook is impressive
Its quick boot-up has made it perfect for writing quick e-mails (and this review) whenever I had a moment of inspiration.
I'm not tossing my larger notebook computer, which I'll continue to use for editing photos and for other tasks that feel constrained on the Eee PC's tiny 5-inch screen. But it's hard not to be impressed with a full-service laptop light enough to be carried along with sunscreen and a magazine in a flimsy plastic bag, as I did during a recent trip to Cancun, Mexico.
As it refines the software and instructions, ASUS - better known as the world's largest maker of computer motherboards - could garner a following among mainstream computer users who right now might be puzzled by some of the eccentricities of Linux.
The $400, 8.9-inch by 6.5-inch, 1.4-inch thick Eee PC is a new entrant in a fast-growing market for ultra-portable PCs.
Dan Rodricks
Icompare the names in reports of killings in Baltimore with the names of men who called The Sun during the last 10 months to ask for help in finding jobs that might get them out of dealing drugs or other potentially deadly crimes. So far, I know only of one man who came in from the street for help, returned to his old lifestyle and ended up dead because of it. The lesson for Easter: Life can be renewed April 16, 2006 There are young men out there - teenage boys from Baltimore to Columbia, from Aberdeen to Annapolis - who will be making decisions this spring. Some will have to decide where to go to college in the fall, or which lacrosse team to play with this summer, or which girl to ask to a prom. Some will have to decide whether to continue to be a stickup boy or a young thug who sells heroin.
Feds ask student-loan agency to repay $15 million
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The federal government is asking Pennsylvania's student-loan agency to repay as much as $15 million that officials say it received in excess loan subsidies over a two-year period.
The U.S. Education Department outlined its request Friday in a letter to the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.
The department's inspector general released an audit in November saying PHEAA was overpaid $35 million in federal subsidies over a three-year period. But department officials say they didn't accept all of the audit's findings.
PHEAA spokesman Keith New says the agency has been negotiating with the department over how much money, if any, it should repay the government. The negotiations are part of a separate federal program review of the subsidy payments.
BSP eases rules on bank branching
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Friday removed more restrictions on bank branching to encourage credit retailing to small borrowers and to give banks more flexibility in their non-banking services. The policy-making monetary board approved a set of measures extending the scope of the BSP's bank branching liberalization to small banks catering to small and medium-scale borrowers as well as those engaged in micro-financing. The central bank also eased rules on bank branching for large high-rated and well-capitalized banks, waiving requirements not related to prudential regulations and making it easier for them to outsource some of their backroom services. .
CORNER CUBE FRIDAY: TNA Impact review - a money match is taking shape
Jericho via DQ. Updated Wednesday, January 23 10:25 a.m. Last night's ECW had all the glitz and glamour of a big-feel show, but it ended on a downer note with the heels conspiring for an ECW Title change and a lackluster debut from Kofi Kingston. Colin D. remains great in the Big Three of mid-card excellence - Santino (Raw) and Jamie Noble (SD) being in his peer group. The Rumble video package was a nice touch to give ECW something tangible - anything! - to call their own in selling the PPV. But, without the usual filler ECW Title match for the PPV, it came down to booking a five-man battle royale that was too short to give viewers a real taste for the PPV. The production value to last night's show was a major upgrade over the previous ECW set. The previous set was designed to give ECW an "alternative" feel, but over time, "alternative" become second-rate and drab.
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I like to have a lot of black colored clothes in my wardrobe, but after a few washings, the clothes start fading out. This also happens with other darker colors, but black is worse. If anyone knows of a way to lock the color into clothes, please let me know.
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Venus tips Daz to dazzle for Posh
Darren has got big expectations to live up to on this side of the business because of his father. "He might never reach what his dad has achieved but I think he will be a success in the job and I think time will prove him to be his own man. "That's the lad he was when I was with him. He was always his own person and I'm sure that's what he will be as a manager. "I think the biggest pressure is probably from himself. Having a father who has achieved so much probably means you put pressure on yourself to do as well as you can. "Pressure other people put on him will probably not be as big as the pressure he puts on himself. But he is doing well. I imagine he is someone who will tell you the truth but demand of you and want you to achieve." Venus insisted the Baggies would like a cup run even though regaining their Premier League status is the main priority.
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