I'm no expert on, well, anything. That's why I report what other people say. Increasingly, experts are saying we are at the bottom of the housing cycle. The evidence:    Read More

Another record for crude oil dragged down the Dow Monday despite word that the service sector of the economy was no longer contracting in April. Here's the "Word on the Street."   Read More

Analysts this morning began raising some red flags over the Bank of America/Countrywide deal, citing deterioration in the mortgage market that could lead BofA to walk away, or at the very least lower its asking price.    Read More

Their was plenty of discussion over the weekend that the market's recent upward momentum did not match the reality of the poor economic situation. They seem to be ignoring the fact that the global economy, while somewhat slower, has not collapsed and the markets are clearly anticipating a better second half of the year (which may or may not be overly optimistic.    Read More

With Fed Fund Futures indicating an ~80% probability that the Fed will cut rates 25 basis points today, here are the stocks that faired best on each of the last three rate cut days.   Read More

I’m covering the Federal Reserve Board hearing today in Los Angeles. The Fed needs to determine whether the Bank of America spacer purchase of Countrywide spacer would hurt the public interest under the Bank Holding Company Act.   Read More

Since Altria spun off Phillip Morris International, its stock is yielding a whopping 13.8%.  Here is a list of the top 20 yielding stocks on the S&P 500.   Read More

Hedge Fund SRM Global Master Fund is buying more Countrywide shares. The fund has boosted its stake from 32 million shares, to 47 million, or slightly more than 8 percent of shares. Most of the shares were bought in the last few days, at prices ranging from $4.83 to $5.69--so they've made some money, lost some money.    Read More

I'm always asking myself the same question as I cover this seemingly endless housing crisis: if so many programs with so many lenders are working their darndest to save troubled borrowers, then why do we even have a foreclosure crisis?    Read More

I realize you’re all going to get on my case again for saying something nice about a home builder, but here’s the thing: After reporting the obscene amount of money a certain CEO of a certain mega-mortgage company raked in last year (Mozilo of Countrywide), I simply have to give a shout-out to Lennar for their no-performance, no-pay policy.   Read More