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15 Dec 2004 08:43 AM
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U.S. home mortgage applications fell 1.0% last week:
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Applications for U.S. home mortgages fell 1.0% last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted index declined 1.0% to 689.0. The MBA’s seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications fell 2.0% to 1852.4, the purchase index, fell 0.4% to 488.9.
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15 Dec 2004 06:43 AM
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Bank of America Chairman retires to be replaced by CEO :
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Bank of America Corp. Chairman Charles K. Gifford will retire starting Jan. 31. although keeping his seat on the BoA’s board. Mr. Gifford, 62, joined the company in the wake of a merger with FleetBoston where he used to be chief executive. At the moment the management reports that the Bank of America/FleetBoston merger execution
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15 Dec 2004 03:42 AM
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Wall Street rose after Fed lift its rate to 2.25%:
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U.S. stock markets rose, after the Fed lift its benchmark fed funds rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.25%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 38.13 points, or 0.36%, to 10,676.45. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 4.70 points, or 0.39%, to 1,203.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 11.34 points, or 0.53%, to 2,159.84.
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14 Dec 2004 05:42 PM
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FOMC lift its overnight interest rate to 2.25%:
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Today, as expected, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) unanimously voted to raise its overnight interest rates by a quarter percentage point to 2.25%. This is the fifth increase of the interest rate.
“Monetary policy remains accommodative, future rate hikes are likely to follow a measured pace. Inflation and longer-
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14 Dec 2004 10:21 AM
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Fed bound for another “measured” rate hike today :
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The Federal Reserve meeting starting at 9 a.m. EST today is almost certain to hike the key fed funds rate another quarter point to 2.25% to combat inflationary pressures amid positive signs of economic recovery. The decision is projected to be announced before 2:15 p.m.
The growth of 3.7% annual rate in the third quarter is solid, and the average job growth has been 178,000 in the past
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13 Dec 2004 08:24 AM
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Bank of England foresees danger coming from dollar decline :
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The Bank of England sees a threat to the soundness of the banking system in the dollar plunge and sliding demand for U.S. assets, it says in its semi-annual Financial Stability Review.
The bank says in the statement that events like sales of US Treasury notes or China’s liberalization of its exchange rate policy might cause ``potentially abrupt movements in currency and interest rate markets.’’
``In the
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09 Dec 2004 10:59 AM
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Freddie Mac: Average mortgage rates fell last week:
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According to Freddie Mac, last week the average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 5.71% from 5.81%. The average rate for the 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage declined to 5.14% from 5.23%.
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09 Dec 2004 07:37 AM
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Bank of England as expected held its key interest rate at 4.75%:
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The Bank of England as expected held its key interest rate at 4.75%, for the fourth consecutive month.
All 45 analysts polled by Reuters had predicted no change at this month’s meeting, according to Reuters. The outlook for the new year, however, is much cloudier. Twenty economists said rates had peaked and the next
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08 Dec 2004 11:21 AM
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Russia’s Central Bank will replace euros with dollars:
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The Central Bank can change the structure of its gold and currency reserves giving added weight to euro, announced today chairman of the Central Bank Sergey Ignatyev.
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07 Dec 2004 07:45 AM
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Credit Suisse to merge securities and banking units :
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Credit Suisse Group, Switzerland's second-largest bank, will merge its Credit Suisse First Boston securities with its banking unit.
The organizational change is expected to slash costs and boost earnings that have been disappointing of late.
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06 Dec 2004 10:51 AM
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Softbank plans to offer low-cost services in the cell phone market :
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Softbank BB Corp., a subdivision of Softbank Corp., plans to move into the cell phone market and has already applied to the Japanese government for a business license for these services.
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06 Dec 2004 09:03 AM
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HSBC management reshuffle:
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HSBC chairman, David Eldon, will retire on May 24, 2005, after 37 years at the helm of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, UK-based global bank.
The next chairman will be Vincent Cheng, 56, taking office on May 25, 2005 whi will become the first Chinese director
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03 Dec 2004 11:31 AM
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Goldman Sachs will start an investment banking joint venture in China :
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Goldman Sachs announced Thursday that it has been approved by Chinese authorities to set up a joint-venture investment bank in partnership with Beijing Gao Hua Securities Co. Goldman will own 33% of the joint venture to be named Goldman Sachs Gao Hua Securities Co., and the local bank will keep the remaining 67%.
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03 Dec 2004 11:27 AM
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Giuliani’s advance into investment banking will boost his political aspirations:
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New York City former mayor Rudolph Giuliani is moving into investment banking business announcing the creation of Giuliani Capital Advisors LLC based on his investment company Giuliani Partners. The new unit has purchased under undisclosed terms Ernst & Young Corporate Finance that has offices in New York, Chicago
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03 Dec 2004 11:26 AM
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Lazard CEO has more time to complete initial public offering or quit:
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Lazard CEO Bruce Wasserstein has got extension of the time period during which he is to complete the IPO of the investment bank. So far the ultimatum put forward by the company chairman Michel David-Weill specified that Wasserstein has time until June 30 to finish with the IPO. The two are still debating the consequences for Wasserstein if he fails to fulfil the conditions after accepting the deadline.
The
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