The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago's "Mortgage Partnership Finance" (MPF) marked its fifth birthday recently. The bank sent out a press release noting the milestone, taking a mini-swipe at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: MPF "continues to offer FHLB members a better alternative than selling their fixed-rate loans to the secondary marketing agencies." Outstanding MPF loans now total $30 billion, a fraction of what Fannie Mae ($740 billion) and Freddie Mac ($520 billion) have on their books. Of course, the Chicago FHLB cannot (or should I say does not) securitize its production which limits its ability to be a true competitor to Fannie and Freddie. MPF is not open to mortgage bankers and brokers and the Chicago bank doesn't market the program to industry participants. The MPF program is the brainchild of current Chicago bank president Alex J. Pollock. General Electric Mortgage Insurance, Raleigh, N.C., is involved in "bulk" insuring some of the loans...
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The House GSE subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., is set to hold hearings on July 16 and 23 on the regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Peter Fisher, the Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance, and OFHEO chief Armando Falcon are among the witnesses scheduled to appear&
The stock market went on a tear Friday (will the gains reverse itself on Monday?) but investors are clearly gun shy about both the Dow and Nasdaq. It's no secret that many consumers/investors are plowing money into real estate. According to AMG Data Services, since January, $2.41 billion has flowed into real estate mutual funds, compared to just $307 million in the same period a year ago. REIT shares have appreciated by 11% this year, while the S&P is down 17%...
The LendingTree, Charlotte, N.C., will be added to the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indices. Its stock closed the week at $12.62, up slightly on the day, but a few points below its 52-week high of $15.99...
IndyMac CEO Mike Perry has received the 2002 Los Angeles Ernst & Young "entrepreneur of the year" award in the financial services category...
In our last update we noted that business appears to be rocking at Nexstar Financial Corp., St. Louis, a provider of outsourced mortgage services. We forgot to mention that Nexstar has hired the up-and-coming Campbell-Lewis Communications to be its PR counsel. CLC also recently landed Lenders Service Inc., in Pittsburgh, as a client. LSI has kept a low industry profile the past few years...
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Bank of America is expanding its presence in the wholesale market. The mega-bank is looking to double its sales staff in at least three geographic areas: Florida, North Carolina and Florida...
