Chicago Post-Tribune, Feb. 4, 2016–Auch-Schultz, Teresa
Three Chicago businesspeople facing sentencing for taking part in a widespread mortgage fraud case say they shouldn’t have to pay restitution because of the careless practices by banks that led up to collapse of the real estate market.
National Real Estate Investor, Feb. 4, 2016–Mitchell, Donna
The holiday season could have been a lot more jolly for retailers, so it came as no surprise when about 30 retail chains announced a total of 2,282 store closings for 2016 and beyond.
Wall Street Journal, Feb. 4, 2016–Barbanel, Josh
As landlords across New York City open the envelopes with their official “notice of property value,” many are learning they face steep increases in property taxes at a time when Mayor Bill de Blasio administration’s has pushed through a rent freeze on rent-regulated apartments.
Associated Press, Feb. 4, 2016–Crutsinger, Martin
U.S. productivity fell sharply in the final three months of 2015, closing out a fifth straight year of weak gains in worker efficiency.
Wall Street Journal, Feb. 4, 2016–Torry, Harriet
The U.S. job market strengthened in 2015, posting its second-best year of job gains since 1999. We’ll learn whether that momentum carried into 2016 when the Labor Department releases the January jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday.
CNBC, Feb. 3, 2016–Olick, Diana
Mortgage rates fell last week, but so did record amounts of snow across much of the East Coast. That may be why total mortgage application volume dropped 2.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
National Mortgage Professional, Feb. 3, 2016–Hall, Phil
The latest round of Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association offered a bit of wobbling, with the seasonally adjusted indexes performing poorly while the unadjusted indexes showed more stability.
Investor’s Business Daily, Feb. 3, 2016–McEvoy, Ciaran
Federal Reserve officials are increasingly uneasy about financial markets since they raised interest rates in December. Meanwhile, U.S. hiring remained solid to start 2016. The service sector continued to expand, but at its slowest pace in nearly two years.
The Hill, Feb. 3, 2016–Needham, Vicki
Economists from several of the nation’s largest banks said Wednesday that they don’t expect the turmoil rippling through global markets to stymie U.S. growth.
New York Times, Feb. 3, 2016–Moyer, Liz
Wells Fargo agreed to pay $1.2 billion to put to rest claims that it engaged in reckless lending under a Federal Housing Administration program that left a government insurance fund to clean up the mess.
