“Zaccaro's Market, The Woodward default on loans (Detroit News)” plus 3 more |
- Zaccaro's Market, The Woodward default on loans (Detroit News)
- Personal Finance Daily: Flying home for the holidays just got cheaper (Market Watch)
- Decade in Review: A wild ride in personal finance (San Francisco Chronicle)
- Decade in Review: A wild ride in personal finance (AP via Yahoo! News)
| Zaccaro's Market, The Woodward default on loans (Detroit News) Posted: 18 Dec 2009 01:52 PM PST Christine MacDonald / The Detroit NewsDetroit --The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation recently sued three companies -- including a shuttered high-end grocery store -- after they defaulted on nearly $500,000 in loans aimed at spurring local business. Zaccaro's Market defaulted on a $200,000 loan the quasi-government group made in July 2008, according to a DEGC press released issued Friday. Officials with the agency filed a lawsuit against the owner this year. The market opened in April 2008 and shut down the following February. The closed Downtown Foodland in Lafayette Park and the owners of The Woodward, a restaurant in Compuware's building that closed, have also both stopped making payments on separate $150,000 loans and are being sued by entities connected to the DEGC, according to the group. Advertisement George Jackson, DEGC's CEO, said there is a risk with entrepreneurial loans like these, but they back up the loans with personal guarantees as a stop gap. "We feel we have the fiduciary responsibility" to pursue the defaults in court, Jackson said. Barry Rosenbaum, an attorney for Zaccaro's, had no comment Friday. Representatives from The Woodward and the Downtown Foodland couldn't be reached for comment. On Wednesday, the DEGC made news when it filed another lawsuit against NBA basketball star turned businessman Derrick Coleman after he defaulted on a $200,000 loan for a retail development he had hoped would spur the rebirth of his old neighborhood. Coleman built the retail strip mall near Linwood and Clairmount in 2008, calling it Coleman Corners, but now it is nearly vacant. A spokesman for Coleman said he is hoping to work out a deal with the DEGC to keep the two remaining stores open. cmacdonald@detnews.com (313) 222-2396 Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Personal Finance Daily: Flying home for the holidays just got cheaper (Market Watch) Posted: 18 Dec 2009 08:25 AM PST
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By MarketWatch Don't miss these top stories: All the travel experts warned us a couple of months ago that airlines were going to play hard ball this year on holiday fares and that the best deals would be the earliest ones. That last part may still hold true but the first part didn't: With just over a week until Christmas major airlines have decided to waive advance-purchase restrictions for the holidays, effectively instigating a big last-minute sale to fill seats. A couple of caveats: While the reductions from the fares airlines were charging for roundtrip flights look big, up to 79% in some cases, they aren't necessarily lower than what you would have gotten two months ago and they are still above most fares being quoted for after the holiday period. And the most-popular travel days over the holidays will still command higher fares. But if your travel days are flexible, and the advance-purchase-penalty fares had been putting you off, it certainly is worth a look to see if you can still get home for the holidays. -- Steve Kerch, assistant managing editor/personal finance TRAVEL Holiday air deals take off
Nearly all of the nation's largest air carriers are pulling advance-purchase rules for holiday travel, dropping some ticket prices by as much as 79%, Bestfares.com reported Thursday.
MORTGAGES Lenders a failure at mortgage modification
It has now become very, very apparent to anyone with eyes and ears that lenders have totally dropped the ball when it comes to modifying loans.
Citigroup, Fannie and Freddie suspend evictions for holidays
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Citigroup Inc. have announced that they will suspend evictions during the holidays.
Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Decade in Review: A wild ride in personal finance (San Francisco Chronicle) Posted: 18 Dec 2009 10:24 AM PST With interest rates low and lending standards lower, credit became the currency of the decade. Exotic mortgage products helped housing prices more than double. Consumer spending shot up more than 48 percent — even while wages stagnated — as shoppers snapped up big-screen TVs, gadgets like iPhones and fashion labels like Gucci and Jimmy Choo. The amount of debt consumers carried shot up 67 percent, peaking in June 2008 at $2.57 trillion. Likewise, businesses large and small borrowed money to finance a wave of mergers and expansion. Then, the crash. At the end of 2006, homeowners began defaulting on their mortgages at an alarming rate. The foreclosure rate broke record after record. Lenders failed by the dozen. In late 2009, more than 14 percent of homeowners with a mortgage were either behind on their payments or facing foreclosure. For Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, which bet too heavily on securities backed by risky mortgages, the losses were fatal. The ripple effects across banking and other industries, sparked a recession that led to massive job losses and drastic cutbacks in consumer spending. There are some signs of a recovery, but not of a quick rebound. Stocks have recovered a portion of their losses, but it will appear on most investor's balance sheet as a lost decade — the first 10-year period investors saw a negative total return. Nearly 27 million people are unemployed or underemployed. Consumers have cut back on spending and started saving, but it will take years to dig out of the debt hole. Home prices have receded to 2003 levels, and further in Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada. The decade that began with the view that the sky was the limit is ending with both investors and consumers feeling grounded. Here's a look at some of the key moments in personal finance in the 2000s. 2000 January AOL and Time Warner announce a $162 billion deal. Then the largest-ever corporate merger, it set off an era of mega-mergers that helped fuel the market as investors chased outsized gains. It would prove to be a last hurrah for the dot-com era before the bubble burst. February JetBlue takes to the skies as the discount airline joins Southwest Airlines in pressuring the major carriers to cut prices. By the second quarter of 2009, the cost of average domestic itinerary fares will drop by 11 percent, down to $301 from $339. March The Nasdaq composite index reaches an all-time high of 5,048 on March 10, as the dot-com bubble peaks. November Just nine months after raising $82.5 million in an IPO, Pets.com silences its popular spokesdog sock puppet. Management announces the Web site will shut down and rights to the puppet sold. Pets.com joined a legion of other casualties. Remember Flooz.com, Kozmo.com, Webvan.com? 2001 January President George W. Bush takes office. The passage of a $1.35 trillion tax cut program was an early success for the administration, but his domestic agenda would soon be eclipsed by 9/11. September The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 darken the New York Stock Exchange for four days, its longest closure since 1933. When trading reopens Sept. 17, the Dow Jones industrial average plunges 684.81 points. December On Dec. 2, Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, to that point the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. Many employees in Enron's 401(k) plan are heavily invested in company stock and see their retirement plans disappear. 2002 January The first euro notes and coins are issued in 12 European countries. The notes are worth about 90 cents. By 2009, the exchange rate will value the euro around $1.45. July On the heels of a number of major corporate scandals, including Enron, Tyco and WorldCom, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act passes, setting new standards for corporate governance. October The dot-com bubble bear market reaches bottom, when the Dow Jones industrial average slips below 7,200. 2003 March Research in Motion tops 500,000 Blackberry subscribers shortly after the handheld device adds voice service along with e-mail. The introduction of the iPhone in 2007 will further spark demand for smart phones. In the first nine months of 2009, worldwide sales of smart phones will top $53 billion according to IDC, a market research firm. March Operation Iraqi Freedom begins on March 20. The cost to taxpayers will be projected to exceed $1 trillion by the time the conflict ends. September NYSE Chairman and CEO Richard Grasso resigns following the revelation of his $140 million compensation package, sparking concerns about excessive executive pay. 2004 February HBO airs the final episode of "Sex and the City," which epitomized the decade's swelling consumption of luxury fashion goods previously reserved for the wealthy, such as $600 Manolo Blahnik shoes. August Google goes public. Originally priced at $85, shares of the Internet search firm will trade near $600 by mid-December 2009. October The Boston Red Sox win their first World Series since 1918. As attendance rises 10 percent in the decade to 73.4 million, the average ticket price for a Major League Baseball game will rise more than 60 percent to $27 by 2009. 2005 March "Mad Money" with Jim Cramer debuts on CNBC. With bobble-heads and "booyah" rants, Cramer becomes a mass-market personal finance guru. He will later suffer a public backlash for bad calls after the financial market meltdown. April Taxpayers move online as electronic filing of tax returns tops 50 percent for the first time. Some 68.5 million returns are submitted to the IRS via the Internet. April The first video is uploaded to the video sharing site YouTube.com. Just 18 months later Google will purchase the site for $1.76 billion. By decade's end viral videos and Susan Boyle will be a part of life. YouTube remains mum on whether it's profitable. September Quarterly direct-mail offers for credit cards peak at 2.22 million. Market researcher Mintel says nearly 8.2 million offers were sent out in the year. September The number of transactions made using debit cards overtakes those of credit cards. Debit card dollar volume will surpass credit in early 2009. 2006 January After more than 18 years, Alan Greenspan's term on the Federal Reserve Board ends. Critics will later question whether his legacy of historic interest rate cuts led to the housing bubble. April Home values peak as the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index reaches its highest point. November The Nintendo Wii video game console goes on sale. By the end of 2009, more than 23 million are sold. U.S. sales of video games will hit $20 billion in 2009 according to NPD Group. 2007 January Countrywide Financial, the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, warns that homeowners are having trouble repaying loans. Within weeks, investment banks begin writing off millions in investments backed by risky mortgages-early signs of the global financial crisis to come. September In a sign the "green consumer" trend has taken hold, Wal-Mart launches a private label energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulb. One month later, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore wins the Nobel Peace Prize for raising awareness about global warming. By 2009, Wal-Mart will have sold 145 million of its light bulbs. October The Dow Jones industrial average records its highest ever close, 14,164.53 on Oct. 9. A week after the market peaks, Fox Business Network debuts to challenge CNBC. October On Oct. 15, Kathleen Casey-Kirschling files for early retirement, becoming the first of an estimated 80 million baby boomers to qualify for Social Security benefits. December Las Vegas gambling receipts peak at $10.9 billion. By decade's end, 37 states will have some kind of commercial or Indian-run casino. December The official start of a recession according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. It won't be declared such until full year later. 2008 March Gold prices surge to more than $1,000 an ounce for the first time ever. March On March 16, Bear Stearns is sold to JPMorgan Chase for a fire-sale price of $2 a share, or $236 million, as the collapse of the subprime mortgage market brings down the fifth-largest Wall Street investment bank, foreshadowing the broader financial crisis. March Visa Inc. stock debuts on the New York Stock Exchange with the largest-ever IPO, raising $17.86 billion. July California lender IndyMac Bank fails at an estimated cost of $10.7 billion to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. A total of 25 banks will fail by the end of the year. Failures will skyrockets to more than 133 in 2009. July Oil reaches $150 a barrel; gasoline spikes to $4.11 a gallon. Gas prices become a topic of debate on the presidential campaign trail. July "Dark Knight," the second film in the reboot of the Batman series, premieres. Movie-goers will ultimately shell out more than $533 million, enabling the film to surpass "Star Wars" as No. 2 on the all-time list for domestic box office receipts. September On Sept. 15, the subprime mortgage crisis forces Lehman Brothers to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, setting forth a worldwide financial meltdown. September On Sept. 29, the House rejects the government's $700 billion financial bailout plan, triggering the largest-ever drop in the Dow Jones industrial average, 777.68 points. October As part of the federal bailout of the financial system, FDIC insurance on bank deposits is increased from $100,000 per account to $250,000, until 2014. November Riding a record-setting wave of $748 million in campaign donations, with more than 45 percent of the donations of $500 or less, and made by individuals, Barack Obama is elected the first African-American U.S. president. December Bernard Madoff is arrested by the FBI after confessing to his sons that his investment firm is a Ponzi scheme. Investigators later tally the real losses for his investors at more than $21 billion. December Revolving debt held by U.S. consumers, mostly on credit cards, tops out at $988.2 billion. The number of outstanding credit cards, once 425 million, will drop to 325 million by late 2009. 2009 January President Barack Obama is sworn in. In his inaugural address he notes: "The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act-not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth." February The $757 billion economic stimulus package is signed into law. March On March 9, major stock market indicators hit 12-year lows, with the Dow Jones industrial average sinking to 6,547. Stocks then begin a months-long bull market that restores much, but far from all, of the wealth lost in the collapse. May Seeking to protect consumers, landmark credit card reform legislation is signed into law. According to consultant TowerGroup, banks use the nine months before the law takes effect to slash credit limits and raise interest rates on 65 percent of all outstanding cards. July In an effort to jump-start the economy and get gas-guzzlers off the road, the government initially approves $1 billion to provide rebates for new car purchases. Greater than anticipated demand leads Congress to approve an additional $2 billion. July With families skipping travel during the summer season due to the economy, "staycation" a slang term for staying home while on vacation, is among 100 new words added to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. October As investors left skittish by 2008's market collapse continue to seek relative security, bond fund Pimco Total Return, the world's largest mutual fund, tops $186 billion in assets. November After wavering back and forth for two weeks, on Nov. 5, the Dow settles into a two-month run above the 10,000 mark. The following morning, the Commerce Department says the unemployment rate hit 10.2 percent in October. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Decade in Review: A wild ride in personal finance (AP via Yahoo! News) Posted: 18 Dec 2009 09:59 AM PST It was a decade of living dangerously. With interest rates low and lending standards lower, credit became the currency of the decade. Exotic mortgage products helped housing prices more than double. Consumer spending shot up more than 48 percent — even while wages stagnated — as shoppers snapped up big-screen TVs, gadgets like iPhones and fashion labels like Gucci and Jimmy Choo. The amount of debt consumers carried shot up 67 percent, peaking in June 2008 at $2.57 trillion. Likewise, businesses large and small borrowed money to finance a wave of mergers and expansion. Then, the crash. At the end of 2006, homeowners began defaulting on their mortgages at an alarming rate. The foreclosure rate broke record after record. Lenders failed by the dozen. In late 2009, more than 14 percent of homeowners with a mortgage were either behind on their payments or facing foreclosure. For Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, which bet too heavily on securities backed by risky mortgages, the losses were fatal. The ripple effects across banking and other industries, sparked a recession that led to massive job losses and drastic cutbacks in consumer spending. There are some signs of a recovery, but not of a quick rebound. Stocks have recovered a portion of their losses, but it will appear on most investor's balance sheet as a lost decade — the first 10-year period investors saw a negative total return. Nearly 27 million people are unemployed or underemployed. Consumers have cut back on spending and started saving, but it will take years to dig out of the debt hole. Home prices have receded to 2003 levels, and further in Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada. The decade that began with the view that the sky was the limit is ending with both investors and consumers feeling grounded. Here's a look at some of the key moments in personal finance in the 2000s. 2000 January AOL and Time Warner announce a $162 billion deal. Then the largest-ever corporate merger, it set off an era of mega-mergers that helped fuel the market as investors chased outsized gains. It would prove to be a last hurrah for the dot-com era before the bubble burst. February JetBlue takes to the skies as the discount airline joins Southwest Airlines in pressuring the major carriers to cut prices. By the second quarter of 2009, the cost of average domestic itinerary fares will drop by 11 percent, down to $301 from $339. March The Nasdaq composite index reaches an all-time high of 5,048 on March 10, as the dot-com bubble peaks. November Just nine months after raising $82.5 million in an IPO, Pets.com silences its popular spokesdog sock puppet. Management announces the Web site will shut down and rights to the puppet sold. Pets.com joined a legion of other casualties. Remember Flooz.com, Kozmo.com, Webvan.com? 2001 January President George W. Bush takes office. The passage of a $1.35 trillion tax cut program was an early success for the administration, but his domestic agenda would soon be eclipsed by 9/11. September The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 darken the New York Stock Exchange for four days, its longest closure since 1933. When trading reopens Sept. 17, the Dow Jones industrial average plunges 684.81 points. December On Dec. 2, Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, to that point the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. Many employees in Enron's 401(k) plan are heavily invested in company stock and see their retirement plans disappear. 2002 January The first euro notes and coins are issued in 12 European countries. The notes are worth about 90 cents. By 2009, the exchange rate will value the euro around $1.45. July On the heels of a number of major corporate scandals, including Enron, Tyco and WorldCom, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act passes, setting new standards for corporate governance. October The dot-com bubble bear market reaches bottom, when the Dow Jones industrial average slips below 7,200. 2003 March Research in Motion tops 500,000 Blackberry subscribers shortly after the handheld device adds voice service along with e-mail. The introduction of the iPhone in 2007 will further spark demand for smart phones. In the first nine months of 2009, worldwide sales of smart phones will top $53 billion according to IDC, a market research firm. March Operation Iraqi Freedom begins on March 20. The cost to taxpayers will be projected to exceed $1 trillion by the time the conflict ends. September NYSE Chairman and CEO Richard Grasso resigns following the revelation of his $140 million compensation package, sparking concerns about excessive executive pay. 2004 February HBO airs the final episode of "Sex and the City," which epitomized the decade's swelling consumption of luxury fashion goods previously reserved for the wealthy, such as $600 Manolo Blahnik shoes. August Google goes public. Originally priced at $85, shares of the Internet search firm will trade near $600 by mid-December 2009. October The Boston Red Sox win their first World Series since 1918. As attendance rises 10 percent in the decade to 73.4 million, the average ticket price for a Major League Baseball game will rise more than 60 percent to $27 by 2009. 2005 March "Mad Money" with Jim Cramer debuts on CNBC. With bobble-heads and "booyah" rants, Cramer becomes a mass-market personal finance guru. He will later suffer a public backlash for bad calls after the financial market meltdown. April Taxpayers move online as electronic filing of tax returns tops 50 percent for the first time. Some 68.5 million returns are submitted to the IRS via the Internet. April The first video is uploaded to the video sharing site YouTube.com. Just 18 months later Google will purchase the site for $1.76 billion. By decade's end viral videos and Susan Boyle will be a part of life. YouTube remains mum on whether it's profitable. September Quarterly direct-mail offers for credit cards peak at 2.22 million. Market researcher Mintel says nearly 8.2 million offers were sent out in the year. September The number of transactions made using debit cards overtakes those of credit cards. Debit card dollar volume will surpass credit in early 2009. 2006 January After more than 18 years, Alan Greenspan's term on the Federal Reserve Board ends. Critics will later question whether his legacy of historic interest rate cuts led to the housing bubble. April Home values peak as the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index reaches its highest point. November The Nintendo Wii video game console goes on sale. By the end of 2009, more than 23 million are sold. U.S. sales of video games will hit $20 billion in 2009 according to NPD Group. 2007 January Countrywide Financial, the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, warns that homeowners are having trouble repaying loans. Within weeks, investment banks begin writing off millions in investments backed by risky mortgages-early signs of the global financial crisis to come. September In a sign the "green consumer" trend has taken hold, Wal-Mart launches a private label energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulb. One month later, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore wins the Nobel Peace Prize for raising awareness about global warming. By 2009, Wal-Mart will have sold 145 million of its light bulbs. October The Dow Jones industrial average records its highest ever close, 14,164.53 on Oct. 9. A week after the market peaks, Fox Business Network debuts to challenge CNBC. October On Oct. 15, Kathleen Casey-Kirschling files for early retirement, becoming the first of an estimated 80 million baby boomers to qualify for Social Security benefits. December Las Vegas gambling receipts peak at $10.9 billion. By decade's end, 37 states will have some kind of commercial or Indian-run casino. December The official start of a recession according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. It won't be declared such until full year later. 2008 March Gold prices surge to more than $1,000 an ounce for the first time ever. March On March 16, Bear Stearns is sold to JPMorgan Chase for a fire-sale price of $2 a share, or $236 million, as the collapse of the subprime mortgage market brings down the fifth-largest Wall Street investment bank, foreshadowing the broader financial crisis. March Visa Inc. stock debuts on the New York Stock Exchange with the largest-ever IPO, raising $17.86 billion. July California lender IndyMac Bank fails at an estimated cost of $10.7 billion to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. A total of 25 banks will fail by the end of the year. Failures will skyrockets to more than 133 in 2009. July Oil reaches $150 a barrel; gasoline spikes to $4.11 a gallon. Gas prices become a topic of debate on the presidential campaign trail. July "Dark Knight," the second film in the reboot of the Batman series, premieres. Movie-goers will ultimately shell out more than $533 million, enabling the film to surpass "Star Wars" as No. 2 on the all-time list for domestic box office receipts. September On Sept. 15, the subprime mortgage crisis forces Lehman Brothers to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, setting forth a worldwide financial meltdown. September On Sept. 29, the House rejects the government's $700 billion financial bailout plan, triggering the largest-ever drop in the Dow Jones industrial average, 777.68 points. October As part of the federal bailout of the financial system, FDIC insurance on bank deposits is increased from $100,000 per account to $250,000, until 2014. November Riding a record-setting wave of $748 million in campaign donations, with more than 45 percent of the donations of $500 or less, and made by individuals, Barack Obama is elected the first African-American U.S. president. December Bernard Madoff is arrested by the FBI after confessing to his sons that his investment firm is a Ponzi scheme. Investigators later tally the real losses for his investors at more than $21 billion. December Revolving debt held by U.S. consumers, mostly on credit cards, tops out at $988.2 billion. The number of outstanding credit cards, once 425 million, will drop to 325 million by late 2009. 2009 January President Barack Obama is sworn in. In his inaugural address he notes: "The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act-not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth." February The $757 billion economic stimulus package is signed into law. March On March 9, major stock market indicators hit 12-year lows, with the Dow Jones industrial average sinking to 6,547. Stocks then begin a months-long bull market that restores much, but far from all, of the wealth lost in the collapse. May Seeking to protect consumers, landmark credit card reform legislation is signed into law. According to consultant TowerGroup, banks use the nine months before the law takes effect to slash credit limits and raise interest rates on 65 percent of all outstanding cards. July In an effort to jump-start the economy and get gas-guzzlers off the road, the government initially approves $1 billion to provide rebates for new car purchases. Greater than anticipated demand leads Congress to approve an additional $2 billion. July With families skipping travel during the summer season due to the economy, "staycation" a slang term for staying home while on vacation, is among 100 new words added to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. October As investors left skittish by 2008's market collapse continue to seek relative security, bond fund Pimco Total Return, the world's largest mutual fund, tops $186 billion in assets. November After wavering back and forth for two weeks, on Nov. 5, the Dow settles into a two-month run above the 10,000 mark. The following morning, the Commerce Department says the unemployment rate hit 10.2 percent in October. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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