How The Housing Crisis Is Affecting Lenders

economyonfall I’m a bit short on time today, so I’ll share with you a few of the headlines that stand out to me regarding the economy and housing . . .

How Housing is Affecting the Economy

Dollar Drops to All-Time Low Against Euro on Weak Economic News From Washington – “The dollar fell to a new low against the euro on Thursday after the 13-nation European currency broke through the $1.43 mark on reports from Washington that growing economic weakness was boosting jobless claims.” ^{Source: Yahoo Business}

Credit Crunch Fears Back On Housing, Financiall Firms’ Outlooks – “Housing woes are getting worse, and spreading beyond builders and lenders to tech firms and the broader economy. September housing starts dived 10.2% to an annual rate of 1.191 million, a 14-year low, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Permits for future building slumped. Economists don’t see any sign that the drop will end soon, and some see it intensifying in the coming months.” ^{Source: Investor’s Business Daily}

Housing starts skid, inflation flares – “Groundbreaking for new U.S. homes and permits for future building both hit a 14-year low last month, reviving worry about a deepening housing slump and prompting investors to boost bets on interest-rate cuts. Housing starts tumbled 10.2 percent to a 1.191 million unit annual rate, the slowest since March 1993, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. Economists had expected starts to slip, but the sharpness of the downturn took them by surprise.” ^{Source: Reuters}

How Housing is Affecting Lenders

Washington Mutual’s profit sinks 72 percent, sees more housing slump – “Washington Mutual Inc (NYSE:WM), the largest U.S. savings and loan, said on Wednesday third- quarter profit fell 72 percent, hurt by mounting mortgage losses, and said it sees no end to the U.S. housing slump. The thrift, which is also one of the nation’s biggest home loan providers, nearly doubled its forecast for full-year credit losses.” ^{Source: Reuters}

GMAC home-lending unit to cut 25 percent of staff – “Residential Capital LLC, the home-lending arm of GMAC Financial Services, will announce that it is cutting its work force by about 25 percent today, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. GMAC Financial, the General Motors (NYSE:GM) financing arm that was sold to a consortium of buyers including Cerberus Capital Management last November, is suffering from slowing loan demand and tightening credit in the lending unit, the paper said. The unit, called ResCap, is expected to cut about 3,000 of its 12,000 employees in addition to the 1,000 that were to be cut by the end of this month, the paper said.” ^{Source: Reuters}

Anyone have any thoughts???

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