Tag Archives: Wells Fargo

Spurred by ongoing fears about a global economic slowdown and the spreading European debt contagion, the Dow Jones Industrial Average replayed the daytime drama previously seen last week by plunging by over 400 points. As before, the nosedive crashed a party exclusive to mortgage banks and homebuilding companies, gutting their stocks and closing shares at new lows. Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo saw their stocks drop, mirroring sharp losses for Beazer Homes, D.R. Horton, KBH Homes, and Lennar Corp.

The market remains a dim one for new single-family homes, according to an index jointly released by Wells Fargo and the National Association of Home Builders. The index registered confidence at 15 on a 0-to-100 scale, staying largely the same since July. The low confidence follows a hit taken by homebuilding companies in the stock market last week. Analysts and economists weighed in with MReport about how slowing momentum in home construction and sales, as reflected by homebuilder confidence, impacts job creation and consumer confidence.

Wells Fargo has a new leader for its consumer-lending business in Avid Modjtabai, and additionally, Wells confirmed that Mike Heid will take over as president of its mortgage unit. Modjtabai was formerly the head of Wells├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ó technology and operations, and his new role will encompass mortgages, home-equity, and student loans under the Wells Fargo Consumer Lending division.

On Monday the National Association of Home Builders reported an increasingly sunny outlook among single-family homebuilders, with a Housing Market Index jointly released by Wells Fargo signaling a 13-point rise in homebuilder confidence-an uptick from the three-point plunge in June. In July two of the three indexes saw surges, up from steady declines over May. Current sales conditions went up to 15 from two points-the same as in May-as sales expectations for the next six months jumped by 22 points.

After a contentious suit, Wells Fargo agreed to settle with a group of pension funds and investors over allegations the mortgage giant dropped the ball on the risks involved with mortgage-backed securities.

HUD and the Treasury Department jointly released the June edition of the Obama administration├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Housing Scorecard, offering mixed results as home sales crested on a slight uptick and an oversupply of foreclosed properties remained in place. According to the Scorecard, existing home sales jumped slightly over June, trending from 25,100 to 26,900. Mortgage rates elevated the new home sales by staying low, with a number of borrowers refinancing their mortgages to recoup losses and boost their savings.

Spooked by speculation that the federal government may withhold bailout funds from banks deemed too big to fail in another crisis, Moody's Investors Service placed the debt ratings for three leading banking institutions under review in June, according to NASDAQ.com. The ratings agency said that the reviews will assess deposit, senior debt, and senior subordinated debt ratings. If lowered, the new ratings would downgrade the banks' reputation as financially solvent institutions, diminishing their abilities to borrow large sums and meet bottom lines.