Mortgage companies could intensify the next recession, US officials warn
CNN
US officials worry the next recession could be intensified by a cascading series of failures in the mortgage industry caused by crashing home prices, frozen financial markets and soaring delinquencies.
US officials worry the next recession could be intensified by a cascading series of failures in the mortgage industry caused by crashing home prices, frozen financial markets and soaring delinquencies. The US Financial Stability Oversight Council, a SWAT team of financial regulators formed after the 2008 crisis, sounded the alarm on Friday about an increasingly influential corner of the industry that has largely escaped scrutiny: nonbank mortgage companies. Unlike traditional banks, nonbank mortgage companies like Rocket Mortgage are heavily exposed to swings in the mortgage market, depend on funding that can dry up during times of stress and don’t have stable deposits to rely on as a safety net. And, unlike banks, these companies are lightly regulated at the national level. FSOC warned that these unique vulnerabilities risk a domino effect in a future crisis where multiple mortgage companies fail, borrowers are locked out of the mortgage market and the federal government is left holding the bag. “Put simply, the vulnerabilities of nonbank mortgage companies can amplify shocks in the mortgage market and undermine financial stability,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who chairs FSOC, said in the report. Federal regulators are calling for states and Congress to take action to address the risks posed here, including creating an industry-funded backstop to ease turmoil caused when a mortgage company goes under.
“Today is a difficult day,” CBS executives wrote to staff, explaining the cuts as a tough but necessary reallocation of newsroom resources.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly promised that Americans will get larger tax refunds this year thanks to his “big, beautiful bill.”
President Donald Trump has repeatedly promised that Americans will get larger tax refunds this year thanks to his “big, beautiful bill.”
Oil prices edged lower on Friday after a tumultuous day that saw the international benchmark surge above $119 a barrel as the Middle East conflict deepened energy supply fears.
The war in Iran has delivered what economists call a “black swan” event — an unforeseen shock so destructive, no one is immune to it.
The war in Iran is driving up the cost of buying a home in America.
Eight state attorneys general have filed an antitrust lawsuit to block Nexstar’s pending acquisition of Tegna, which would strengthen the right-leaning Nexstar and shrink the number of station owners in the US.
The Iran war has driven oil prices to their highest levels in years. Now, a wave of attacks in the past 24 hours on energy production sites across the Middle East have turned the spotlight on another crucial fossil fuel: liquefied natural gas, or LNG.
Oil and natural gas prices spiked Thursday, as Iran ramped up strikes on energy infrastructure across the Middle East and attacked one of the world’s most important liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Qatar.
In normal times, the Federal Reserve would more or less ignore an oil price shock like the one we’re in now.
Property brokerage Compass on Wednesday dropped its lawsuit against Zillow, ending a legal clash over how home listings can be marketed online.
Fed officials didn’t make any rate moves at their March meeting and released an updated forecast for the path of the American economy as the war in Iran stretches on.
Fed officials are set to announce their latest rate decision Wednesday afternoon, along with a new forecast for the path of the American economy as the war in Iran stretches on.