Subprime borrowers have been largely unwelcome in the lending market since the financial crisis, but it’s becoming easier for them to get a home loan. A number of private investment firms are lending to home buyers whose credit scores do not meet the standards of banks, accordng to the Wall Street Journal. The firms are also more willing to accept alternative forms of documentation as proof of income. The WSJ report comes only a day after a paper published by Kevin Lansing, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, who argues that runaway subprime lending was one of several “red flags” policymakers might have heeded in advance of the financial crisis. Buyers with questionable credit, and the financial institutions that issued them mortgages, have received a lion’s share of blame for the financial crisis, which was presaged by widespread defaults on subprime mortgages and a collapse in mortgage-backed securities. According to the WSJ, the firms draw a distinction between what they’re doing now and what took place during the run-up to the subprime crisis. They’re requiring higher down payments than banks would, and seem to believe they’re lending to borrowers who pose less risk than those who defaulted in large numbers a few years ago. In catering to borrowers with imperfect credit, the firms’ behavior is reminiscent of that of Ally Financial, which has been deliberately courting used car buyers with subprime loans despite concerns about risk. Last week, the WSJ reported that the federal government will likely stop backing mortgage loans above a certain size in October, meaning that come fall, there may be more homeowners seeking “jumbo loans” — in most cases, a loan above $417,000 — from private firms. Currently the government guarantees loans up to $729,750, but in October that figure is expected to come down to $625,500 in major markets like New York and Los Angeles, and as low as $271,050 elsewhere. The WSJ reports that there are at least two firms making jumbo loans to borrowers with questionable credit. One of them is New Penn Financial, a subsidiary of the mortgage company Shellpoint Partners. In a recent item about Shellpoint and one of its founders, the financier Lewis Ranieri, the WSJ noted that one of the company’s goals is to to make mortgages accessible to borrowers whom banks would turn away. “Former traditional prime borrowers with good credit scores who could comfortably make mortgage payments are being precluded from home ownership due to banks’ rigid criteria,” Ranieri then told the WSJ.
Continue reading …After weeks of fierce criticism of her role in the British tabloid phone-hacking scandal, Rebekah Brooks is calling it a day. The News International chief executive has announced that Rupert and James Murdoch have accepted her resignation, the Guardian reports. Brooks—who edited the News of the World during some…
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Primed goes in-depth on the technobabble you hear on Engadget every day — we dig deep into each topic’s history and how it benefits our lives. Looking to suggest a piece of technology for us to break down? Drop us a line at primed *at* engadget *dawt* com . Staring at your smartphone, you realize that there’s something missing. It does everything you want it to — very well, we might add — but what hole is left to fill? We’ll help you out with this one: you want bragging rights. There has to be a way to face your friends with confidence, right? All you need is a little nudge in the right direction, and in this edition of Engadget Primed, we’ll give you that much-needed shove by explaining benchmarks. Perhaps you’ve seen us talk about benchmarks in our product reviews. We’ll typically use them to gauge the relative performance of various devices, but discussing a Linpack score doesn’t mean much without going deeper into what it actually means. What aspects of performance do these benchmarks measure, and what techniques do they use? How much can we rely on them when making purchasing decisions? Read on after the break for the full scoop. Continue reading Engadget Primed: Using benchmarks Engadget Primed: Using benchmarks originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …The New Jersey man arrested for stealing a Picass o from a San Francisco gallery last month was apparently trying to add to his personal collection of stolen art, police say. Authorities raided Mark Lugo’s home in Hoboken and found 11 stolen artworks—including another Picasso drawing—worth a total…
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The Arab Spring (and its troublesome aftermath in Egypt); intervention in Libya; nonintervention in Syria; drone military operations in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia; the influx of unwanted immigrants and walls of exclusion; and selective applications of international criminal law -
Continue reading …Europe’s hottest digital music service has just made its American debut and some analysts are already saying that the download industry is as good as dead. Spotify has a catalog of 15 million songs which users can stream instead of buy. Users can access Spotify for a small monthly fee…
Continue reading …The creepily cozy relationship between some Brit cops and News of the World reporters is emerging with word that Scotland Yard paid a suspected phone hacker $1,500 a day in consultant fees. “This stinks to high heaven,” said one aghast politician. Neil Wallis, former executive editor of the disgraced…
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Chris and Colin Weir from Ayrshire ‘tickled pink’ by winning Europe’s biggest lottery draw Husband and wife Colin and Chris Weir, from Largs in Ayrshire, have won the £161m jackpot in Europe’s biggest lottery draw. The winning numbers in Tuesday’s EuroMillions draw were 17, 19, 38, 42 and 45, and the Lucky Stars were 9 and 10. The couple banked the entire jackpot – £161,653,000 – after several rollovers. They were unveiled as the winners on Friday at the Macdonald Inchyra hotel in Polmont, near Falkirk. The couple have been married for 30 years and have two children. Colin Weir, 64, who has worked as a TV cameraman and studio manager for 23 years, said: “When we first realised we had won, it felt like a dream. Everything went into slow motion. But it feels like a good thing; something we should not be afraid of but for us to enjoy with the children. “All our lives we have lived within our means and been comfortable. We appreciate that this money brings about a whole new life for us and our family. “We now have so many new opportunities to explore but we won’t rush it. For us, it will be a gradual change with choices to be made.” Chris Weir, 55, a former psychiatric nurse, said the couple were having a normal night in front of the TV on Tuesday evening until she checked the EuroMillions result at around midnight. “We had bought five Lucky Dips, as the jackpot was now so big,” she said. “I started circling the numbers I had matched but wasn’t doing very well. Then on the fifth line, all the circles seemed to join up. “I had all of them but couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I checked them three or four times before going back downstairs to find Colin. He knew immediately by my face and tone that something was up. “After checking many times together, the news gradually hit us. The Camelot line was closed for the night but we couldn’t sleep. We sat up all night and saw dawn come round the next morning. “We were tickled pink. I even had a glass of white wine, which is something I normally only do at Christmas. It really is unbelievable.” The couple, who have both had serious health conditions in recent years and been unable to work, are already thinking about new homes, cars and travel to China and Australia. They plan to buy homes for their son and daughter, who are considering their first driving lessons. The win will catapult the Weirs into 430th place in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List, not far below David and Victoria Beckham. The jackpot was capped at €185m after a series of rollovers made it the largest ever in Europe. Angela Kelly, from East Kilbride, who won a £35,425,411.80 EuroMillions jackpot in 2007, had previously been Scotland’s biggest lottery winner. Scotland Europe guardian.co.uk
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Italian designer celebrated for relaxed tailoring wins commission to kit out national team for 2012 Games Stratford looks set to rival Paris next summer as the most fashionable place in the world following the announcement that Giorgio Armani will dress the Italian athletes at the 2012 Olympic Games. Armani’s appointment will pitch Italy against Britain on the catwalk as well as the running track, as Stella McCartney is already dressing Team GB. It is thought that the Italian designer’s company EA7 – a sportswear line that is part of the brand’s diffusion line, Emporio Armani – will provide specially designed performance wear for the Italians. He is the third confirmed designer at the Games. In addition to McCartney, Cedella Marley, fashion designer and daughter of reggae legend Bob, is known to be kitting out the Jamaican team under an agreement with Puma. There is speculation that more designers might be appointed to design for their national teams. The commission confirms Armani’s status as the king of Italian fashion. The 77-year-old designer is known for his ability to create wearable clothes, and his fashion empire spans all levels of designer fashion – from haute couture to underwear. Armani is no stranger to the crossover between sport and fashion. Aside from his sportswear line and the occasional appearance at his catwalk shows of surf gear and other sports-inspired designs, Armani has recruited sports stars including David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Rafael Nadal to front his blockbuster Emporio Armani underwear campaigns. Armani has interests in the business side of sport – since 2004 he has been part owner of the Milanese basketball team Olimpia Milano. It is a considerable honour to be chosen to represent the country in such a high profile way. It illustrates how much a label is considered to be part of that country’s establishment — the very best it can offer in terms of fashion. But it is not just patriotism on the part of the designers – there is serious commercial gain too, a factor the billionaire designer, who privately owns his company, will no doubt be aware off. The exposure and boost to the designer’s profile is huge – there will be an estimated global audience of 4 billion people watching the opening ceremony, and fans are encouraged to buy related products. Fashion and the Olympics already have a proven relationship. At the Beijing Games in 2008, Ralph Lauren was chosen to dress the US team, producing an opening ceremony suit with a preppy feel. In Athens in 2004, Sophia Kokosalaki – a London-based, Greek-born designer – was responsible for overseeing all the costumes for the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the uniforms for both the teams and officials. US designer Vera Wang, known for her wedding gowns and herself a trained figure skater who represented her country, designed some of the skating costumes for the 2010 winter Games in Vancouver. If Armani’s Olympic designs are in keeping with his design aesthetic it is likely that the kit will focus on easy tailoring rather than the racier aspect of Italian fashion. Fashion designers Olympic Games 2012 Italy Stella McCartney Fashion Europe Imogen Fox guardian.co.uk
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Last thing we heard about the old TH40/D involved Fujitsu pushing back the sliding tablet’s late-June release date. It’s mid-July now, and things have been mostly quiet surrounding the 10-inch tablet’s keyboard-packing goodness. The Windows 7 device, which debuted back in May , is now scheduled for a July 22nd release in its native Japan, according to new reports. Once that date rolls around,
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