It will be interesting to see if other banks follow suit. The pay czar’s restrictions on compensation, seems to be the biggest motivator for BofA to find ways to exit its TARP obligations, seeing as it has been unsuccessful at find a new CEO to lead the bank, under the current restrictions. (Click to read Economist.com article)
Not a financial story, but a fascinating one: (Click here to read article)
The current Dubai crisis regarding Dubai World’s inability to pay its debt obligation in a timely manner: (Click here to read article)
Fixed 30-year mortgage rates dropped to an average of 4.78% this week. 15-year mortgage rates averaged 4.29%. If you have the equity in your house and can refinance, the window of opportunity is still open. (Click to read article)
Interesting survey about retirement expectations in the NW: (Click to read article)
Today the National Association of Realtors released numbers on existing US home sales. It was a surprise to the market, feeding a run-up in equities, with the anticipation that the housing recovery may be a durable one: (Click to read Bloomberg article)
Tight bank credit and high unemployment are cited in the article as some of the key reasons the Fed will not raise the Fed Funds target in the near future: http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSN1651494020091116
Bill Gross is one of the best bond managers, globally. Here he is on Bloomberg Radio: Link to Bloomberg Radio
A look at Washington state’s cities and how they rank in creating and sustaining jobs and economic growth. Seattle’s rank has not changed from last year, Olympia moved from 9th to 7th, Tacoma dropped to 21st from 8th (due to the Russell move, no-doubt) and Spokane fell from 35th to 41st: http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/11/09/daily39.html
This article from the Wall Street Journal highlights a couple pieces of information: current TARP outlays, TARP repayments, the US debt ceiling and the pressures on this administration to reign in the deficit in the near future: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125799009185344567.html
