California Pays More for its Municipal Bonds

Archive for November, 2010

California Pays More for its Municipal Bonds

Thursday, November 18th, 2010 | Comments Off

California today paid a higher yield than previously expected to sell $10 billion in revenue anticipation notes to help fund its budget deficit. The state sold $2.25 billion in RANs that mature in May 2011 at a yield of 1.50%. California’s state treasurer’s office said that the bulk of the sale ? $7.75 billion maturing […]

Soda Pop Tax

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 | Comments Off

Former Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Alice Rivlin and former Republican Senator Pete Domenici, heading a 18-member group of experts on the U.S. federal budget deficit, on Wednesday called for a soft drink tax, 2011 Social Security tax holiday, and government spending freezes to help balance the budget. Among its recommednations, the group called for a […]

Will California Default?

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010 | Comments Off

California municipal bonds have just plummeted these past few days as investors worry about the ability of California to repay its bond obligations. California faces a massive $25 billion shortfall in revenues to fund state obligations, and Governor Schwarzenegger has been wracking his head over how to do it. Chris Whalen, a financial industry analyst […]

Home values accelerated their decline in September

Sunday, November 14th, 2010 | Comments Off

Zillow released a report wrapping up the state of the real estate market in the third quarter. It seems that 23.2% of all mortgaged homes are now underwater. That’s nearly a quarter of all mortages. Foreclosures have also reached an all-time high as of the end of September. RealtyTrac’s October figures showed that 322,000 properties […]

ING Direct Offers 1.25% APY 1-year CD Rate

Friday, November 12th, 2010 | Comments Off

ING Direct is sending out a national campaign for its 1.25% APY one-year CD. Considering that the average one-year cd interest rate nationwide is around .50%, this might be something to look into. Personally we expect interest rates to be rising soon because the Fed’s QE2 policy has not led to lower rates but higher […]

Home Foreclosures Centered in 5 States

Thursday, November 11th, 2010 | Comments Off

Over half of America’s foreclosures are due to mortgages gone sour in just 5 states. These are: Nevada (14,205 properties in foreclosure) Florida (56,835) Arizona (16,538) California (66,475) Michigan (19,288) Yes, our state of California is on the list.

Gold Tops $1400

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010 | Comments Off

Gold topped $1400 an ounce yesterday, an event that speaks of inflation or inflationary expectations. We do not know if it will go further. We can only report that it has reached the cycle’s projected top of Charles Nenner Research Center, probably the best cycles analyst around.

California Car Loan Rates

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 | Comments Off

With the economy bad people are stretching out the number of years they hold their car. So how are California car loan rates faring? Here are the average figures for the US. 48 Month Used Car Average Loan Rate is 5.90% 48 Month New Car Average Loan Rate is 5.66% What about California? Here are […]

The Bad Mortgage Mess

Monday, November 8th, 2010 | Comments Off

Citigroup just disclosed in a regulatory filing that it was being sued by several investors who want to force Citigroup to buy back soured mortgages. The investors contend these bad mortgages did not conform to proper underwriting standards. These aren’t just ordinary investors suing Citibank but big names – Charles Schwab and the Federal Home […]

Archive for November, 2010