Personal Finance News

Mortgage Rates for 30-Year U.S. Home Loans Match Record Low Set in April Fixed 30-year mortgage rates dropped for a fourth consecutive week, matching a record low set in April, in a decline that may further support increasing sales in the battered housing market.

California Home Market Turned Corner to Recovery, Realtors Economist Says California, one-time hub of subprime mortgage lending and the nation’s leader in home foreclosures, has turned the corner toward a housing recovery, according to the state Association of Realtors.

Company Profits in U.S. Stage Lopsided Gain as Financial Firms Pull Ahead Profits at U.S. companies climbed in the third quarter by the most in five years as earnings at banks surged.

First American Flips Real Estate Stocks to Outperform Buy-and-Hold Rivals John Wenker and Jay Rosenberg, managers of First American Real Estate Fund, buy and sell stocks more often than their peers, a strategy that helped them outperform 98 percent of rivals in the past decade.

Sales of New Houses in U.S. Rise to Highest Level Since 2008 on Tax Credit Purchases of new homes in the U.S. rebounded more than anticipated in October as buyers rushed to take advantage of a government tax credit before it expired.

Individuals Inundate Bear-Market Funds From JPMorgan to Pimco During 2009 JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Pacific Investment Management Co. are inundated with money from individuals attempting to mimic the performance of hedge funds speculating that the stock-market rally is over.

Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Climb for a Fourth Month, Case-Shiller Says Home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose for a fourth straight month in September, pointing to improvement in real estate that’s helping the economy emerge from recession.

Vanguard Targets Fixed-Income Investments With Seven Index Mutual Funds Vanguard Group Inc. opened seven index funds that target fixed-income investments, the U.S. mutual-fund asset category that has drawn 94 percent of client inflows this year.

Allstate Favors Corporate Debt Over Municipal Bonds, Commercial Mortgages Allstate Corp., the largest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer, is investing in corporate debt as it reduces commercial real estate and municipal bond holdings.

Bills Yielding Zero as Stocks Soar Give Investors Bernanke Moment of 1938 For the first time in seven decades, Treasury bills are paying no interest while stocks continue to appreciate -- a divergence in U.S. financial markets that might be perilous if Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke didn’t know all about 1938.

Caterpillar Beating Komatsu as Dow Industrials Soar on Dollar Index Drop For the first time since the equity rally began in March, the biggest U.S. stocks are beating the smallest as the dollar’s descent sends investors to companies with the most business in international markets.

Existing U.S. Home Sales Jump to Highest Level Since 2007 on Tax Incentive Sales of existing U.S. homes jumped 10 percent in October to the highest level since February 2007 as Americans rushed to take advantage of a tax credit, cheaper properties and lower mortgage rates.

Housing Recovery in U.S. Set Back to 2010 With Market on `Life Support' A recovery in U.S. housing will have to wait at least until next year.

Rangel Says House Democrats Will Seek to Renew Expiring U.S. Tax Breaks New York Representative Charles Rangel said House Democrats will move next month to renew dozens of tax breaks before they expire at year’s end, including a research credit promoted by companies such as Dow Chemical Co.

Meredith Whitney Says Bank Stocks Are `Grossly' Overvalued Meredith Whitney, the analyst who has no “buy” recommendations on U.S. banks, said valuations on lender stocks are too high and what “scares” her most is the government stepping away from buying mortgage-backed securities.

Lower Credit-Card Fees for Merchants May Raise Consumer Costs, GAO Says U.S. consumers may not save money and could wind up paying higher credit-card costs if lawmakers force payment networks including Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. to cut fees charged to merchants, a government watchdog said.

Fidelity Says 401(k) Retirement Savings Accounts Recover From 2008 Decline Fidelity Investments said the average balance on customers’ 401(k) retirement accounts has returned to September 2008 levels on contributions and third- quarter investment gains.

U.K. Royal Mint Quadruples Gold-Coin Output as Investors Chase Diversity The U.K.’s Royal Mint, established in the 13th century, more than quadrupled production of gold coins in the third quarter after demand for the metal increased as investors sought to hedge against a weakening dollar.

Brazil `Buy' Ratings Sink to Record Low as Mobius Sees Commodity-Led Gains Emerging markets analysts are cutting their “buy” ratings on Brazil to a record low as the world’s biggest gains push equities to their priciest levels in six years and the government adds taxes to slow the rally.

Wells Fargo to Repay $1.3 Billion to Clients Hit by Auction-Rate Collapse Wells Fargo & Co., the fourth- biggest U.S. lender by assets, will repay as much as $1.4 billion to brokerage clients whose funds were frozen when the auction-rate securities market collapsed last year, the bank said in a statement.