This agreement addressed mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses, new mortgage servicing standards and how the $26 billion would be distributed.  The abuse included banks using faulty documents to seize homes. To speed up the foreclosure process, some employees signed papers they hadnt read or used fake signatures, which is also referred to as “robo-signing”.

Summary of terms

Bank of America will be responsible for $11.8 billion, Wells and JPMorgan Chase for $5.3 billion each, Citigroup for $2.2 billion, and Ally for $310 million.

Only customers of the five servicers are covered and had to be a customer from at least January 2, 2008 through December 31, 2011.

Borrowers whose mortgages are underwater (owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth) will be able to refinance, if they are current on their mortgage payment.

Approximately $1.5 billion of the settlement goes to those improperly foreclosed upon by these five servicers and will be issued checks between $1,800 and $2,000.

Those who need loan modification to remain in their homes will have their principal reduced by an average of $20,000 by the five servicers and will help them refinance their homes.

Together the five servicers are required to dedicate $21 billion toward forms of relief such as loan modification and $5 billion in cash to federal and state governments.

These obligations are to be fulfilled by the five mortgage servicers within three years. They

Read more…

So the highly anticipated Facebook IPO is getting closer and seems like Facebook is looking at $77-$96 billion dollar valuation. Yea that is Billion with a B! Facebook has seen a rapid growth and currently has more than 900 million users, but can the growth continue? An even more important question is can the revenue continue to grow? Its latest quarterly revenue fell by 6% over the previous quarter, although a 45% growth YOY. Yet another important issue is that the dual classes of shares, Mark Zukerberg will control over 57% of the voting shares after the offering. He can pretty much do as he pleases and there is nothing investors can do, which is ok if the stock gains but investors are left stranded when things go wrong. For example, if Mark decides to spend a billion dollars on a photo sharing app that has not earned a penny there is nothing anyone can do. Although, some fund managers believe Facebook will be worth over $200 billion in four years, I dont see a value anywhere close to that.

Read more…

Credit card debt or any other debt can be extremely constructive. Many people live in a form of bondage because of their debts. Credit card debt consolidation is one way to set yourself free from debts.

Personal bankruptcy is one way to get out of debt. If you take bankruptcy as a debt solution, you may end up doing more harm than good to yourself in the future because you will have a bankruptcy note on your credit rating that will mar you.

Credit report is a vital part of the debt consolidation process. Your credit report enables a debt consolidation agent decide the best debt plan for you. Do not do business with any debt consolidation company that isn’t too eager to ask you questions related to your finances.

Credit card debt is one of the most common forms of debt in America. Many people often run mad with worry over the best way to handle their credit card debts. T

Read more…

Making money in commodities is nice but allot sometime today to spend with loved ones! Crude’s gain today was minute but intra-day prices were at three weeks highs approaching the $102 level. Echoing yesterday’s thoughts we should inch higher near the $104 area in the coming weeks but I do not see much more than that especially in the face of a strengthening greenback. Natural gas was higher by nearly 5% but prices are still 30 cents under support and an area I would feel confident in saying we’re out of the woods. Stocks traded under the 9 day MA but will manage a push to close above that pivot point once again. I want to say we’re exhibiting signs of a top but I learned a long time ago you cannot pick tops or bottoms. As long as the 9 day MA holds on a closing basis I am friendly.  Gold continues to creep lower making its way to the $1675/1690 this week if not next in my opinion. Silver has lost very little ground of late but most of my technical indicators are signaling a bigger correction and if the dollar can gain some momentum that would also support a  break. I am expe

Read more…

Four Fraud Trends

The study found four overall fraud trends:

1. Identity fraud incidents increased while amount stolen remained steady. Identity fraud increased by 13 percent or 1.4 million adults in 2011 compared to 2010.  Javelin defined identity fraud “as the unauthorized use of another persons personal information to achieve illicit financial gain”.  Surprisingly, the total amount lost did not change; consumer out-of-pocket costs have decreased by 44 percent since 2004.

2. Social behaviors put consumers at risk.  LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter and Facebook users had the highest incidence of fraud.  They shared more personal information: 68 percent of people with public social media profiles shared their birthday information (45 percent shared month, date and year); 63 percent shared their high school name; 18 percent shared their phone number; and 12 percent shared their pets name. These are examples of personal information a company would use to verify your identity.

3. Smartph

Read more…

First of all, I’m not an economist.  Having said that, I’m also not a rancher but I think I can recognize the, shall we say, residue of cattle.  With that mind set let’s take a look at trickle-down economics.  Apparently the idea is if things are good for rich people things will eventually get better for the rest of us.  Really?

It’s generally conceded that while things have been tougher for the middle class and poor during the last few years things have been outstanding for the rich.  Where’s the trickle?  Proponents of trickle-down economics will say that “job creators” need financial certainty in the form of low taxes. If that’s the case why were there more jobs when tax rates were higher?  Why are the “job creators” taking a Sabbath with lower tax rates in place?

In 1963 John F. Kennedy used the phrase, “A

Read more…