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Industrial production in the U.S. rose more than anticipated in January as factories churned out more consumer goods and business equipment, leading the recovery of the world’s biggest economy.
The 0.9 percent increase in production at factories, mines and utilities followed a 0.7 percent gain the prior month, according to the Federal Reserve in Washington. Figures from the Commerce Department today showed housing starts climbed to a 591,000 annual pace, exceeding the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would no longer be able to rely on subprime mortgages to meet their government-mandated goals for helping lower-income Americans obtain mortgages, according to proposed regulations.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency is seeking to restrict the companies from using so-called private-label securities backed by risky mortgages to achieve certain affordable housing goals, the agency said in proposed rules on its Web site today.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest sources of money for U.S. residential mortgages, have relied on private-label debt backed by Alt-A and subprime mortgages to satisfy federal goals of financing loans for low- and moderate-income homebuyers, according to FHFA. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were seized in 2008 largely because of regulators’ concern that the companies wouldn’t have enough capital to cover losses on that debt.
“The results of providing large-scale funding for such loans were adverse for borrowers who entered into mortgages that did not sustain homeownership and for the enterprises themselves,” the agency said in the proposal.
The companies have been required to devote a certain amount of their annual business to low- and moderate-income borrowers, economically depressed neighbourhoods and other disadvantaged groups. Those goals were suspended after the companies were seized by federal regulators in September 2008.
Humana Inc., the best-performing U.S. health-insurance stock this year, will reduce its workforce by 5 percent as the company faces shrinking private-sector enrollments and cuts in government-backed Medicare payments.
About 2,500 jobs will be eliminated through attrition, outsourcing and shedding positions, the Louisville, Kentucky- based company said today in a statement. The insurer also plans to hire 1,100 people in the growth areas of medical-cost containment, pharmacy management and specialty products, for a net reduction of 1,400 workers.
Marsh & McLennan Cos., the insurance broker that paid $850 million to end a probe by Eliot Spitzer in 2005, won release from restrictions on commissions criticized as conflicts of interest that hurt consumers.
The broker and its biggest rivals, Aon Corp............
CONTINUED: http://www.theinternationalforecaster.com/International_Forecaster_Weekly/Signs_of_Recovery_And_Signs_of_Warning
Industrial production in the U.S. rose more than anticipated in January as factories churned out more consumer goods and business equipment, leading the recovery of the world’s biggest economy.
The 0.9 percent increase in production at factories, mines and utilities followed a 0.7 percent gain the prior month, according to the Federal Reserve in Washington. Figures from the Commerce Department today showed housing starts climbed to a 591,000 annual pace, exceeding the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would no longer be able to rely on subprime mortgages to meet their government-mandated goals for helping lower-income Americans obtain mortgages, according to proposed regulations.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency is seeking to restrict the companies from using so-called private-label securities backed by risky mortgages to achieve certain affordable housing goals, the agency said in proposed rules on its Web site today.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest sources of money for U.S. residential mortgages, have relied on private-label debt backed by Alt-A and subprime mortgages to satisfy federal goals of financing loans for low- and moderate-income homebuyers, according to FHFA. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were seized in 2008 largely because of regulators’ concern that the companies wouldn’t have enough capital to cover losses on that debt.
“The results of providing large-scale funding for such loans were adverse for borrowers who entered into mortgages that did not sustain homeownership and for the enterprises themselves,” the agency said in the proposal.
The companies have been required to devote a certain amount of their annual business to low- and moderate-income borrowers, economically depressed neighbourhoods and other disadvantaged groups. Those goals were suspended after the companies were seized by federal regulators in September 2008.
Humana Inc., the best-performing U.S. health-insurance stock this year, will reduce its workforce by 5 percent as the company faces shrinking private-sector enrollments and cuts in government-backed Medicare payments.
About 2,500 jobs will be eliminated through attrition, outsourcing and shedding positions, the Louisville, Kentucky- based company said today in a statement. The insurer also plans to hire 1,100 people in the growth areas of medical-cost containment, pharmacy management and specialty products, for a net reduction of 1,400 workers.
Marsh & McLennan Cos., the insurance broker that paid $850 million to end a probe by Eliot Spitzer in 2005, won release from restrictions on commissions criticized as conflicts of interest that hurt consumers.
The broker and its biggest rivals, Aon Corp............
CONTINUED: http://www.theinternationalforecaster.com/International_Forecaster_Weekly/Signs_of_Recovery_And_Signs_of_Warning