SIFMA Announces Former Senator Judd A. Gregg as New CEO and Appoints Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. as President<br/>http://www.sifma.org/newsroom/2013/sifma-announces-former-senator-judd-a_-gregg-as-new-ceo-and-appoints-kenneth-e_-bentsen,-jr_-as-president/

Banks have paid less than half the $5.7 billion in cash owed to troubled homeowners under nearly 30 settlements brokered by the government since 2008, delaying help to the millions of victims of discrimination and shoddy lending that epitomized the housing crisis, according to a Washington Post analysis of government data. Read full article >>        

(Reuters) - A federal judge has revived a closely watched lawsuit accusing JPMorgan Chase & Co of misleading Belgian-French bank Dexia SA into buying more than $1.6 billion of troubled mortgage debt.

The European Union's top economic policy maker and scourge of debt-fueled budget deficits, is fed up with austerity.

Speech at the Bard College at Simon's Rock, Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Wells Fargo Postpones Some Foreclosure Sales After OCC Guidance Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), the largest U.S. home lender, halted some foreclosures until it can understand new guidelines from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a spokeswoman said. "We postponed certain foreclosure sales while we study the ... and more »

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve has not done enough to lower U.S. borrowing costs to boost economic growth, a top Fed official said on Friday, citing his outlook for overly low inflation and overly high unemployment over the next two to three years.

Today, Secretary Lew sent the following letter? to Congress regarding the debt limit. *** May 17, 2013 The Honorable John A. Boehner Speaker U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Speaker: As provided by Public Law 113-3, the statutory debt limit was suspended by Congress through May 18, 2013. Because Congress has not yet acted to approve normal borrowing authority after May 18, the Treasury Department will begin implementing the standard set of extraordinary measures that enable us, on a temporary basis, to protect the full faith and credit of the United States by continuing to pay the nation's bills. These measures are the same ones that have been used in previous debt limit impasses, and are described in detail in an appendix to this letter. The effective duration of the extraordinary measures is subject to considerable uncertainty due to a variety of factors, including the unpredictability of tax receipts, changes in expenditure flows under the sequester, and the normal challenges of forecasting the payments and receipts of the U . S. government months into the future. An additional source of uncertainty has been the amount and timing of certain payments to the Treasury by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in light of their improving financial conditions. In the case of Fannie Mae, we learned last week that Treasury will receive a payment of approximately $60 billion on June 28, 2013. Given the uncertainty described above, at this time, Treasury is not able to provide a specific estimate of how long the extraordinary measures will last. However, in view of the forthcoming Fannie Mae payment and the trend in other payment flows, it is now clear that the measures will not be exhausted until after Labor Day. Nevertheless, Congress should act sooner rather than later to protect America's good credit and avoid the potentially catastrophic consequences of failing to act until it is too late. It is important to note that increasing the debt limit does...

NEW YORK, May 17 (Reuters) - SunTrust Banks Inc won an court order on Friday preventing a Connecticut-based hedge fund from moving forward with a $13 million arbitration over mortgage-backed securities. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in Manhattan blocks Turnberry Capital Management LP from pursuing a securities arbitration before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The decision marks the latest in a string of lawsuits filed by banks disputing the ability of investors with big damage claims to have their cases heard by FINRA, a Wall Street industry-funded group. Some plaintiffs who claim large damages prefer FINRA as a venue rather than courts, in part because the arbitration process is considered quicker.

More than 2.4 million checks related to the Independent Foreclosure Review have been cashed or deposited for nearly $2.2 billion through May 16, 2013.

Stock markets and corporate profits are up, wage growth anemic. So Fed Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin is wondering whether the “large and increasing amount of inequality in income and wealth” is hampering the current US economic recovery and perhaps “pose … read more >

WASHINGTON (May 16, 2013) – Technology plays a vital role in today’s society and is transforming the way Realtors ® do business. That’s according to Curt Beardsley, vice president of product marketing for realtor.com ® , who shared his perspective on the growing mobile technology environment at the “Industry, Technology and Vision” forum during the Realtors ® Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo . According to data from the 2012 National Association of... Read More

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumer sentiment rebounded in early May to the highest level in nearly six years as Americans felt better about their financial and economic prospects, particularly among upper-income households, a survey released on Friday showed.

With housing now in recovery and apartment rents rising, there is new concern that tenants and investors alike will move out of the multi-family space.

SIFMA Market Close Recommendations for US Memorial Day and UK Spring Bank Holidays in the US, the UK and Japan<br/>http://www.sifma.org/newsroom/2013/sifma-market-close-recommendations-for-us-memorial-day-and-uk-spring-bank-holidays-in-the-us,-the-uk-and-japan/

Alan S. Kaplinsky The Truth in Lending Act ban on mandatory arbitration provisions in certain mortgage loans becomes effective on June 1, 2013. Lenders now using mortgage loan documentation containing such provisions should take steps to ensure that they (and references to them) are removed from documentation to be used for loans that will be subject to the... More >

U.S. stock market index futures signaled a higher open on Friday, as European and Asian shares pared losses after downbeat data from the U.S. on Thursday, and mounting concerns the Federal Reserve may begin tapering off its bond-buying program.

At the Joint Meeting of the Multiple Listing Service Forum and Multiple Listing Issues and Policies Committee Thursday, all things MLS were on the table. In fact, even items that weren’t on the MLS were up for discussion-specifically, so-called “pocket listings.” “Clearly they’re not ‘off the market,’ nor are they in your pocket. They’re not [...]

Stocks weakened before the closing bell as the President of the San Francisco Fed, John Williams, said the Federal Reserve could begin easing up on bond purchases later this year.

As inflation threatens to melt away entirely, consumers keep paying more for one big-ticket item: housing.