Report: Raines put priority on earnings per share (USATODAY.com)
USATODAY.com - From the time Franklin Raines assumed the helm at Fannie Mae in early 1999, he drove management to quickly double a narrow measure of the mortgage giant's profitability known as earnings per share, setting the stage for big payouts to key executives and a pervasive accounting fraud, according to a regulatory report Tuesday. More »
Fannie Mae to pay $400 million fine (USATODAY.com)
USATODAY.com - Employees at mortgage giant Fannie Mae (FNM) manipulated accounting so that executives could collect millions in bonuses as senior management deceived investors and stonewalled regulators at a company whose prestigious image was phony, a federal agency charged Tuesday. More »
Fannie Mae fined $400M for bad accounting (AP)
AP - Federal regulators issued a blistering report about mortgage giant Fannie Mae on Tuesday, alleging accounting manipulation aimed at lining executives' pockets and lying to investors about smooth growth in profits and earnings. The government-sponsored mortgage company was fined $400 million and agreed to limit its growth. More »
New home sales, prices climb in April (Reuters)
Reuters - Sales of new U.S. homes defied predictions of a slowdown in April and rose 4.9 percent while prices climbed, although the supply of homes for sale hit a record, a government report showed on Wednesday. More »
Stocks close higher as commodity prices plunge (Reuters)
Reuters - U.S. stocks staged a last-minute rebound to end higher on Wednesday amid a broad sell-off in commodity prices that quelled some inflation fears. More »
Treasury bonds climb in volatile trading (AP)
AP - Treasury bonds climbed in volatile trading Wednesday, helped by woes that weighed on stocks for most of the session. More »
Sales of new homes up 4.9 percent in Apr. (AP)
AP - Defying forecasts of an imminent slowdown, sales of new homes shot up in April to the fastest sales pace this year. But prices were up only slightly, and the backlog of unsold homes hit a new record. More »
April durable goods orders fall, home sales up (Reuters)
Reuters - New orders for U.S.-made durable goods tumbled an unexpectedly large 4.8 percent in April but new home sales rose above expectations, government reports showed on Wednesday. More »
Rising Home Sales And Durables' Slide Don't Give Answers (Investor's Business Daily)
Investor's Business Daily - Better-than-expected home sales met slumping factory orders in April as traders debated the economy's health, and markets tried to stem their bleeding. More »
Housing market hangs in Fed's balancing act (USATODAY.com)
USATODAY.com - Adjustable-mortgage products that made the housing market more resilient have left it more fragile as interest rates rise, complicating life for the Fed. As mortgage rates rise in response to the Fed's boosting of short-term rates, the central bank must be careful not to overshoot and tamp down demand too fast. More »
Housing: Odds Rise on Soft Landing (BusinessWeek Online)
BusinessWeek Online - Amid all the talk of a cooling U.S. housing sector (see BW Online Special Report, 5/22/06, "Real Estate: The Going Gets Tougher"), financial markets received a surprise on May 24: New home sales rose 4.9% in April, to a 1.198 million-unit annual pace, above economists' median forecast of a 1.15 million pace. While the increase is surprising, it comes via a big downward revision to the prior month's data. March sales were tweaked lower to a pace of 1.142 million, from the 1.213 million reported previously. More »
Wall Street seen higher as investors mull data (FT.com)
FT.com - US stocks looked set to open higher on Thursday as investors digested GDP data and awaited figures for existing home sales in April. Higher commodity prices pushed Phelps Dodge (NYSE:PD) and Valero (NYSE:VLO) higher, while Mastercard's IPO will be closely watched. More »
April existing home sales fall 2 percent (Reuters)
Reuters - The pace of sales of existing homes in the United States fell 2.0 percent in April, roughly in line with expectations, as higher mortgage interest rates ate into buyers' ability to purchase homes, a trade group said on Thursday. More »
New signs of cooling housing market (AP)
AP - Sales of existing homes fell in April, and the price posted the smallest increase in 4 1/2 years, new signals that the nation's once red-hot housing market has cooled. More »
Overnight real estate rates unchanged
30-year fixed rate at 6.2%; 10-year Treasury yield at 5.07% More »
