A definitive rise in mortgage interest rates over the last 30 days is keeping borrowers at bay. When it comes to Loan application volume fell 3.2 percent last week from the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Volume is now skewing toward larger…
Automakers and dealers pushing special year-end deals and the pace of vehicle sales in November has hit the highest level of the year according to Edmunds.com. The online auto research firm estimates the pace of sales for the month will be 18.3 million vehicles. That would be the highest monthly…
The low oil prices are leaving many oil and gas companies with difficult debt loads. So what’s causing them? It’s the low oil prices. The strain on the oil patch comes after years of borrowing heavily at the start of the domestic energy renaissance. At this time, oil was hovering…
The housing market has been in a very long recovery and the Federal Reserve has kept interest rates near zero for about the last seven years. Both dynamics are about to change. With the central bank all but certain to begin withdrawing some of its massive stimulus within the coming…
Many big box stores are issuing bleak outlooks for the next couple of months. Walmart (WMT), Nordstrom (JWN) andMacy’s (M) are not optimistic at all about the holiday shopping season for a variety of reasons. Nordstrom is most worried that the strong U.S. dollar will deter foreign tourists from some…
Fed minutes today reinforced what central bank officials have been saying over and over again: Interest rates are going up. Fed officials have been working hard to deliver the message that they would like to and more than likely raise rates in December, but only if the economy is strong…
CHERRY HILL, N.J. (AP) — It’s a sad time for those in this area of New Jersey when it comes to seeing Santa. Children wanting to see Santa Claus this year at a southern New Jersey mall will now have to pay. That’s right, pay. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that…
The unemployment rate for veterans has dropped to its lowest level in seven years, thanks to an all-hands-on-deck push by government and corporate America to hire veterans. The most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), says that the jobless rate for veterans — a population of nearly…
We are two weeks from Black Friday and the retail sector is looking very gray. Today Nordstrom plunged nearly 17 percent in early afternoon trading. This puts them on track for their worst day since July 2000. The retailer posted earnings after the close Thursday that missed estimates by 15…
On Friday, The Postal Service reported a $5.1 billion loss for the just-completed 2015 fiscal cycle—but that’s actually a slight improvement over last year. The loss reflects continued erosion in the delivery of first-class mail as well as expensive mandates for upfront funding of its retiree health care obligations that…