| Bank of America to buy struggling mortgage provider
Bank of America announced yesterday that it is buying Countrywide Financial Corp., the largest mortgage broker in the United States, in an all-stock transaction worth about US$4 billion. The takeover by the largest US consumer bank could help save the California-based company from bankruptcy, but possible impact on jobs was not immediately detailed, observers said. A statement from Bank of America's headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, said the acquisition will make it the nation's largest mortgage lender and loan service provider. Countrywide, the subject of widespread talk about possible impending bankruptcy in recent days, "will benefit from the stability of being part of the largest and one of the most financially strong financial institutions in the United States," the bank said in the statement.
IRA, loan payments are equally good options
Question: I am a graduate student. I have two modest loans - one is at a 7 percent interest, whereas with the other, the government is paying the interest until I get out of school. I've got an extra $200 each month that I can use toward retirement or paying down my loans. Which option is best?
Answer: Your IRA contributions are tax-deductible, but so too are your student-loan interest payments. So either way, whether you fund the IRA or keep paying interest on the student loans, you get a comparable tax break.
With taxes out of the picture, your decision comes down to a comparison of the student-loan interest rate to the potential return on your IRA investments. Because you'll be investing for retirement, which is decades away for you, your time horizon is long enough to focus largely or almost entirely on stocks.
Valimo Touts Digital Signatures
Consumers use mobile signatures for digitally signing loan applications, online bank authentication, transaction confirmation, mBanking and cardless ATM usage. In addition to banks, 2 brokerages are using mobile signatures for confirming trades: Ak Yatirim, Finans Invest; 2 municipalities (Fatih, Sisli) and 3 e-government services (Customs, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Justice) use mobile signatures for user authentication and digital form signing. According to Dr. Deniz Tuncalp, Mobile Signature Unit Manager at Turkcell, the 'Mobilimza' mobile signature service has now clocked over 500.000 signature requests from Turkcell's subscriber base. Nationwide marketing campaigns feature full-page ads in magazines; and financial instutions advertise their mobile signature service in daily newspapers.
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. .
Trailers ride to school's rescue; More space needed as Beeman student ...
Principal Sue Ellen Hogan yesterday was counting the hours until the arrival of two trailers to relieve overcrowding at Beeman Elementary School, whose student census has increased from 218 last spring to 330 last month.
"We can't wait for them," said Hogan, who noted that because of the 51 percent enrollment increase the Beeman library has been claimed for teaching Title 1 students. Teachers have no "preparation place," she added.
She thanked Superintendent Christopher Farmer for a recent tour that spurred the decision to lease the trailers.
The School Committee voted to lease the 440-square-foot trailers on Oct. 3.
School Committee member Carolyn Kirk said the one-year lease price was $12,000.
At that, they were a bargain compared to the four modular units the committee is still waiting for after fronting the $426,000 purchase price or the $2.5 million that the committee has decided it needs to spend on additional expansion to accommodate the larger number of students and teachers in the elementary schools next September.
Djokovic ends Federer's streak of 10 consecutive Grand Slam finals
Djokovic broke him to pull ahead at 3-1 in the second set. He finished off the game by getting to a drop shot on the dead run and flicking a backhand past Federer that kissed the line. Djokovic roared and raised his fist, then repeatedly pounded his chest. He broke again to pull ahead at 5-1. Serving for the set, Djokovic looked a little tight, and Federer took advantage to break. When he held to make it 5-3, the divided crowd erupted into dueling chants of "Let's go Roger, let's go" and "No-vak, No-vak." Federer forced deuce as Djokovic served again for the set. Known for his tendency to bounce the ball up to two dozen times before serving, the Serbian got a time delay warning. Instead of being shaken, Djokovic was fired up. He ripped a forehand winner and glared up at chair umpire Pascal Maria of France, then blasted an ace and stared defiantly at Maria again.
Credit crunch imperils lender
Angelo Mozilo, chief executive of Countrywide Financial Corp., has been fond of saying that the company became America'sNo. 1 mortgage lender by being smarter than the competition.
In a harangue to Wall Street analysts early last year, the combative Mozilo denounced upstarts for shoveling out too many loans, too easily, to too many people with bad credit, heavy debt and skimpy income.
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