Jul 28 U.S. Home Prices Rise Slightly, Consumer Confidence Drops Again By Carolyn O'Hara A key measure of the housing market shows that U.S. home prices rose slightly in May, posting the first monthly increase since the summer of 2006. Meanwhile, consumer confidence continued to decline, according to another closely watched measurement. Continue reading
Jun 11 Retail Sales Up for First Time in Three Months By PBS News Hour Fewer Americans filed claims for unemployment benefits last week and retail sales grew in May for the first time in three months, raising expectations that the recession could be abating. Continue reading
Jun 05 Watch Fraud Charges Filed Against Countrywide Mortgage Chief The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil fraud charges against Angelo Mozilo, head of the Countrywide Financial mortgage firm, for misleading investors about the company's lending practices. Analysts assess the case's impact. Continue watching
May 21 Watch For One Reporter, a Personal Journey Through the Mortgage Meltdown In the latest report of his Making Sen$e series, Paul Solman talks to New York Times economics reporter Ed Andrews, who chronicles his personal tale of the mortgage crisis in "Busted: Life Inside the Great Mortgage Meltdown."… Continue watching
Apr 16 Watch Foreclosures Rise in New Sign of Housing Market Trouble New government numbers show that home foreclosures increased 24 percent in the first quarter of this year as compared to the first quarter of 2008 as a voluntary foreclosure moratorium ended on March 31. Analysts discuss the data and the… Continue watching
Apr 16 Watch Obama Visits Mexico, Housing Market Stumbles President Barack Obama traveled to Mexico for talks with President Felipe Calderon and newly-released government data showed that new home starts fell more than 10 percent in March. Continue watching
Mar 23 Watch Glut of Foreclosed Homes Encourages Scams, Desperation With the national foreclosure rate still climbing, some chose to live in foreclosed homes while others have been the victims of "rent skimmers," people who pretend to own a foreclosed property and scam tenants out of thousands of dollars in… Continue watching
Mar 19 Interest Rates on Credit Cards Are Going Up. Won’t That Further Hurt Average Joes? Question: About four weeks ago, my Chase credit card informed me that the interest rate on my current balance was changing from 5.99 fixed to 10.99 variable so that Chase could “maintain profitability” on my account. I knew that I… Continue reading
Mar 17 New Home Construction Jumps as Wholesale Prices Edge Up By PBS News Hour The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that construction of new homes and apartments jumped 22.2 percent in February compared with January, pushing total activity to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 583,000 units. Continue reading
Mar 12 Watch Spike in Foreclosures Reveals Continued Housing Trouble Foreclosure filings continue to rise nationwide, with new data showing an increase of 30 percent in February from the same month one year ago. An analyst assesses the numbers and how they tie to the overall economic picture. Continue watching