General Electric Mortgage Insurance has always been one of the bright spots in GE'sinsurance empire. Soon GE will spin off the unit (along with other insurance business) in an IPO called GenworthFinancial. Based on the recent share price of other publicly traded MI firms (MGIC and PMI cometo mind), it would appear GE's timing couldn't be better. The MI business is a bit like the servicing business.When rates rise, the "book of business" sticks around longer. It's no secret that MI firms have beenhurt by the emergence of "80-10-10" loans but if a bill that makes MI payments tax deductible becomeslaw prospects for the sector could brighten even more. In other words, GE's timing couldn't be better. Genworth'sstock symbol will be GNW and the company plans to sell 145 million shares in the range of $21 to $23 a share. TheIPO is expected to hit the market by the end of June...
As we noted last week, GE's consumer finance unit is buying subprime/alt-A lender WMC Mortgageof California. One major plus for WMC is that with GE as its parent, its cost of funds assuredly will go down.As for Genworth, GE eventually hopes to sever all ownership ties with the company. When that happens, Genworthcan anticipate that its cost of funds will rise...
HUD is working on new affordable housing regulations/goals for Fannie Mae andFreddie Mac. One mortgage attorney we know said that as of last week the regs are at least 400 pages long.That should keep plenty of lawyers busy through the summer...
On Friday, yet another law firm -- Goodkind Labaton Rudoff & Sucharow -- hit subprimelender NovaStar Financial with a class-action lawsuit. Also named as defendants are company officers LanceAnderson, Scott Hartman and others. The complaint, like the others filed, accuse the defendants of issuinga series of false and misleading statements concerning the lender's operations. Late last week, its shares weretrading at $31, compared to a 52-week high of $70. Ouch...
Now playing right field at Camden Yards in Baltimore: Ameriquest Mortgage, the nation'slargest subprime lender. Ameriquest is sponsoring a billboard in the Orioles outfield...
Online lender E-Loan reported a GAAP loss of $0.02 a share, in line with estimatesmade by Sandler O'Neill. Total revenue was up 15.7% sequentially, but Sandler says "given the difficultoperating environment," it's maintaining a "sell" recommendation on the company...
The notion of a U.S. housing "bubble" has been dismissed by many a housing and mortgageeconomist, but over in Europe industry players are openly worrying about housing prices crashing in London. Accordingto Mortgage Strategy magazine (the National Mortgage News of the U.K.), "Citypundits" are warning of a "meltdown" in home prices with some forecasting a decline of up to 30%.According to the magazine, Goldman Sachs is predicting a 10% to 15% drop. As the late, great Joe Strummeronce sang: "London's Burning"...
WASHINGTON NEWS: No one should have been shocked by last week's news that the TreasuryDepartment is reviewing its authority to limit the debt issuances of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and FreddieMac. Why? Because back in February, Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan told the Senate BankingCommittee that as a "goal" he favors privatizing the two GSEs and/or limiting their growth by puttingconstraints on their debt issuance. Mr. Greenspan said then that it is essential to the U.S. economy to eliminateas much as possible the two's federal subsidy and their ability to grow their on-balance sheet assets.
UPCOMING MEETINGS: Thomson Media, the owner of National Mortgage News, willhost a subprime lending conference from June 13-15 in San Francisco at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel.Keynote speakers include Ameriquest senior executive vice president Adam J. Bass and WMC presidentAmy Brandt. For more information call (800) 803-3424.
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: Countrywide Bank has named Joel Biechele vice president,regional sales manager for Southern California. Former US Bancorp president Kevin Kelly has agreedto serve on the board of Lime Financial Services of Oregon, a nonconforming lender. After the market closedon Friday, April 23, Commercial Federal Bancorp of Omaha announced that its chief operating officer, RobertJ. Hutchinson, had resigned effective immediately. Mr. Hutchinson also resigned from his position as presidentand from CFB's board. Mr. Hutchinson had been with CFB since 2001. No explanation was given for his resignation.Commercial Federal is a mortgage lender and a $12.2 billion federal savings bank.
MORTGAGE DATA NOTICE: National Mortgage News, for a limited amount of time,is offering for just $399 its new research "white paper" on "Transactional Retail Mortgage Websites."If you have purchased other NMN white papers, take an additional 10% off the purchase price. For a summaryand sample of the "Transactional Retail Mortgage Websites" report contact Elizabeth Washingtonat
@ThomsonMedia.com
MORE DATA: Full-year production rankings (top 100 for prime and top 50 for subprime)including channel breakdowns and much more are now available via NMN's new Annual Data Report. TheADR is an electronic spreadsheet sheet that is growing in popularity. To subscribe to the ADR contact DeartraTodd at (202) 434-0320 or e-mail:
MORTGAGE SURVEY NOTICE: Yes, NMN is still conducting its full-year 2003 productionand servicing survey. But the door is closing fast. If you would like to participate, gaining free publicity foryour institution, contact Ms. Todd at the above.
