A key federal regulator is asking lawmakers to tighten legislation imposing broad new oversight on derivatives by going beyond the Obama administration's proposal in several areas governing the complex financial instruments blamed for hastening the global economic crisis.
Construction of single-family U.S. homes rose 1.7 percent in July, the fifth-straight monthly increase as builders poured foundations at the fastest pace since last October, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.
The National Association of Home Builders said Monday its housing market index rose in August to the highest point in more than a year, as homebuyers hurried to take advantage of a federal tax credit before it expires.
The Department of the Treasury last Tuesday sent to Capitol Hill the final piece of its financial regulatory reform legislation, a 115-page bill aimed at reforming regulation of over-the-counter derivatives.
After gaining an average of 13.9% last year, managed-futures funds have come back down to earth this year as their managers sit with cash and look for signs of a discernable market trend.
An American Bar Association task force studying mutual funds' use of derivatives will likely recommend measures to ensure that investors and fund directors are better-informed about the risks associated with the use of the complex financial instruments.
Tremont Group Holdings Inc., which lost more than $3 billion in the Bernard Madoff scam, will auction off its remaining hedge fund assets in an attempt to pay its investors, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Foreclosure filings were up 32 percent from the same month last year, RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday. More than 360,000 households, or one in every 355 homes, received a foreclosure-related notice.
Atticus Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund shop, is returning $3 billion to investors as the company founder opts out of the hedge fund business, according to a letter sent to shareholders yesterday.
Hedge funds lagged the equity markets in July, as many of these alternative asset class managers now appear to be proceeding with caution after several consecutive months of strong gains.
The residential-real-estate market, after virtually falling off a cliff from its apex of a few years ago, is being buoyed by a recent string of positive sales data.
There's good news and bad news for REITs. The bad news is that real estate stocks tend to be late-stage cyclicals, so analysts don't expect much of a rebound until next year.
The bloom is off the rose in terms of Americans' attitude toward homeownership, according to a survey from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.
In the wake of the historic real estate meltdown, it is easy to make a case for investing in non-traded real estate investment trusts.
The REIT industry is in the throes of a debate over how much debt is appropriate.
A sudden and dramatic pullback in lending by banks in developed countries threatens to stall the global economic recovery, according to a report out today by Hennessee Group LLC in New York.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., one of the banking industry's top performers, said today that government agencies have asked about its compensation practices and use of credit derivatives.
AIG Investments, the asset management arm of American International Group Inc., is close to being sold to a group that includes private equity firm Crestview Partners for $300 million to $400 million, Reuters reported today, citing a source.
Pending U.S. home sales rose in June for the fifth straight month, another encouraging sign of life for the embattled U.S. housing market, the National Association of Realtors reported today.
