MoneyRates Blog
Fannie Mae Tax Credit Debate Indicative of Tangled Web
By Andrew Freiburghouse | Money-Rates Columnist
In one of the more interesting bank stories of the new century, investment bank Goldman Sachs and renowned investor Warren Buffett want to buy $3 billion worth of federal tax credits from Fannie Mae, the government-owned mortgage finance company.
Government regulators are unsure of the fairness of such a deal because the tax credits would reduce [...]
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Bank Reform Debate Continues Even as Recovery Continues
By Richard Barrington | Money-Rates Columnist
It’s not surprising that former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker has voiced the opinion that banking reform must include the break-up of large institutions, including the separation of commercial and investment banking operations. However, having John S. Reed’s voice join the same chorus is really reason for pause.
Paul Volcker’s regime as Fed Chairman was strikingly different from that of [...]
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Reverse Mortgage Scammers Being Driven Out of the Industry
By Andrew Freiburghouse | Money-Rates Columnist
Like cockroaches scattering when you turn on the lights, reverse mortgage scammers are running scared.
This migration is partly due to laws and lawmakers intent on preventing reverse mortgage scams, and perhaps more largely based on the ready availability of honest, comprehensive reverse mortgage information on the Internet.
Reverse Mortgage Protective Measures
The most popular form of reverse [...]
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Bank Rates At Risk When Stock Market Falters
By Richard Barrington | Money-Rates Columnist
It was more tricks than treats for the stock market as the month of October wound down, but if bank depositors think the stock market’s woes don’t concern them, they may also be in for an unpleasant surprise.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average had four days with losses of a hundred points or more in the [...]
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Will New Bank Regulations Protect Your Savings Account? If So, How?
By Andrew Freiburghouse | Money-Rates Columnist
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testified before Congress this morning on the topic of new bank regulations being discussed by the Democrat-controlled Congress, led by Barney Frank of Massachussetts.
Conservative investors who are seeking to protect retirement savings are understandably interested in the outcomes of these discussions. When you have spent your life saving money in savings [...]
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“Too Big To Fail” Legislative Talk Has Disturbing Overtones
By Richard Barrington | Money-Rates Columnist
Just about everybody except bank executives with a vested interest agrees that some legislative changes need to be made in the wake of last year’s banking crisis. However, legislating in the wake of a crisis is not without risk — sometimes an overreaction can exacerbate a crisis.
In a subtle way, one has to look no farther [...]
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CD Laddering Can Spice Up Your Investing Life
By Andrew Freiburghouse | Money-Rates Columnist
According to Money-Rates’ list of the best CD rates available today, a 6 month CD at 1.5 percent interest is a good deal. At the one year mark, anything near 2 percent is a good deal. Conservative investors who vividly remember CD returns of 3-5 percent are understandably questioning how good of a deal today’s [...]
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Do You Have a Plan for Your Savings Rate?
By Richard Barrington | Money-Rates Columnist
When a recent poll by MoneyRates.com and GetRichSlowly.org showed that 52% of respondents felt their retirement savings were not on track, it wasn’t a complete surprise. This has been a challenging environment. A weak job market has caused many household incomes to take a hit. The stock market has been little help to investors for [...]
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Bank Pay at Bailed-Out Banks Slashed by Half
By Andrew Freiburghouse | Money-Rates Columnist
Pay for top executives at bailed-out banks and financial institutions, including Bank of America, Citigroup, and GMAC, has been cut in half by the Treasury’s compensation regulator, Kenneth Feinberg.
Banks that have already paid back bail-out funds, including JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, will not be affected by the Treasury’s orders.
Headline Not the Whole Story Here
How to [...]
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A Delicate Balance: Regulation, Stability, and Bank Rates
By Richard Barrington | Money-Rates Columnist
It’s understandable that last year’s banking crisis should spark a renewed drive for financial regulation. It’s unfortunate that the legislative responses so far seem to be barking up the wrong tree.
As promised (or threatened, depending on how you look at it) Senator Christopher Dodd introduced legislation designed to limit banks’ ability to charge overdraft fees. [...]
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Savers Appear to Be Getting a Little Bit Angry
By Andrew Freiburghouse | Money-Rates Columnist
Looking for the best rates on CDs, money market accounts, and savings accounts used to be pretty fun. Now, for many savers, it’s downright frustrating.
Bank rates on deposit accounts, that is, are frustratingly low. And now, with the specter of inflation rising, savers are starting to get a little bit angry.
Inflation Good for Debt
Who are savers [...]
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Will Bank Rates Have to Respond to Dollar Weakness?
By Richard Barrington | Money-Rates Columnist
Surges in the prices of oil and gold recently are symptomatic of a looming problem: the weakness of the U.S. dollar.
Oil and gold are both traded in dollar terms, so when their prices are rising, it may not be entirely a sign of demand for those commodities. Instead, it can be a function of a [...]
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Bank Earnings Hugely Dependent Upon Trading
By Andrew Freiburghouse | Money-Rates Columnist
Money-Rates banking expert Richard Barrington called yesterday for politicians to take another look at the Glass-Steagall Act, a longstanding financial regulation that separated banking from investment activities, and was repealed in 1999 with the Gramm-Leach-Biley Act.
While this advice to politicians certainly makes extensive sense and might lower the risk of individuals holding money in money market accounts, savings [...]
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A Modest Proposal for Bank Regulation: Revisit Glass-Steagall
By Richard Barrington | Money-Rates Columnist
A year after the banking crisis, politicians continue to posture for public consumption about imposing new regulations on the banks. So far though, congress has been more talk than action when it comes to fixing the banking system, and even that talk has merely nibbled around the edges of the problem.
Congress has taken the populist [...]
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Reverse Mortgages and Health Care Costs
By Andrew Freiburghouse | Money-Rates Columnist
We have blogged before about the increasing popularity of reverse mortages. Reverse mortgages allow homeowners to be paid out the equity in their homes through a lump sum or a monthly payment.
Instead of making a house payment, your house makes you a payment.
The most common form of reverse mortgage, insured by the U.S. government and called an [...]
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Steady Bank Rates Belie Erratic Interest Rate Environment
By Richard Barrington | Money-Rates Columnist
Savings account interest rates have been stuck in a rut, languishing at around the 1.50% level. This lack of action would make you think there was nothing going on with interest rates, if not for the erratic behavior of Treasury yields over the past week.
10-year Treasury yields slid to their lowest level in nearly five [...]
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FDIC Pays to Milk Cows in Colorado
By Andrew Freiburghouse | Money-Rates Columnist
You knew FDIC regulators were talented, but did you know they can milk cows? Or, rather, they can pay for cows to be milked?
NPR reported today that due to the failure of New Frontier Bank in Greeley, Colorado, farmers who had loans with the bank were in danger of losing their crops and their cattle.
Therefore, [...]
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Renewed Attention on Savings Rates
By Richard Barrington | Money-Rates Columnist
National Save for Retirement Week starts October 18th, and it is a good reminder for Americans to take more personal responsibility for their savings rates.
Underlying many of the hard-luck stories from the recent financial crisis is a consistent theme: too many people exposed themselves to possible setbacks by not building up enough of a savings [...]
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Interest Rates Stay Low, But Australia Also Rises
By Andrew Freiburghouse | Money-Rates Columnist
Mortgage rates are still low, and so are CD rates and savings account rates. In seemingly unrelated but actually quite pertinent news, Australia’s central bank raised interest rates by a quarter point.
This move signals that Australia’s economy is recovering, and it’s time to prevent inflation. Australia’s economy, overall, is looking decent thanks in large part [...]
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The Bright Side of Savings Account Interest Rates
By Richard Barrington | Money-Rates Columnist
Treasury bond rates fell again last week, continuing a somewhat odd habit they’ve shown in recent months. This isn’t good news for anyone waiting for savings account interest rates to rise, but there is a bright side to the story.
First, about that odd habit. Last week was a bad one for the stock market, as jitters [...]
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