WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced a commitment to insure a mortgage loan to Fall River Health Services (FRHS) in Hot Springs, South Dakota, to construct a 10-bed addition to the 15-bed replacement hospital currently under construction. The $2.4 million loan to FRHS, a critical access hospital, is made possible through the Federal Housing Administration’s Section 242 Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced a commitment to insure a mortgage loan for the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in Manhattan, New York. The $79.3 million loan, which will finance Phase II of a major expansion project, is made possible through the Federal Housing Administration’s Section 242 Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Justice today announced a historic civil rights settlement with Westchester County, New York. The landmark agreement will result in the construction of 750 units of affordable housing in neighborhoods with small minority populations; will remove existing impediments to fair and affordable housing; and will require the County to take active steps to ensure its housing and development practices are fair to families without regard to their race or ethnicity.
The first three hours of trading have been pretty light with all three indexes trading marginally lower, failing to move higher. Equities rallied on Friday after the nonfarm payrolls report showed job slashings were moderating, and with no major news on the docket today, investors are quietly selling to take profits.
A few minutes after 12:30, the S&P 500 is down 0.49% to 1005, while the Dow is 0.46% lower at 9326 and the Nasdaq is down 0.61% to 1988. Markets have been climbing rapidly over the past four weeks, with the S&P 500 over 14% higher since July 10, which helped the benchmark index hit a 9-month high last week….(read more)
No significant data comes out Monday but the rest of the week should bring further confirmation that the economy turned a corner as the third quarter began in July. Thursday’s retail sales report is expected to show a broad rebound led by the “cash for clunkers” car-buying program that buoyed spirits in the last week of the month.
Consumer sentiment is also expected to increase, while jobless claims and inflation each moderate. All in, the week ahead should bring further optimism to the markets. …(read more)
Buoyed by the first reversal in the unemployment rate in 15 months, markets are up more than 1% on Friday, which will give the benchmark S&P 500 its fourth consecutive weekly gain.
Just after 10:30 am, the Dow is leading all indexes with a 1.10% advance to 9,358, while the S&P is trading 1.06% higher at 1,008, and the Nasdaq is up 1.03% to 1,994. Today’s gains follows two days of small-scale sell-offs, but since Monday the Dow and S&P are up a little more than 2%, while the 5-day gain in the Nasdaq is 0.75%….(read more)
Fannie Mae posted a net loss of $14.8 billion in the second quarter, following up on a deficit of $23.2 billion from the first three months of the year, it was reported Thursday. Taken together, the two quarters have created a hole so large that the government-sponsored mortgage lender will have to fill it by a third round of rescue funds from the Treasury….(read more)
Employment indicators have been mixed this month but virtually all economists believe the labor market improved substantially relative to June, even if job destruction continued at a rapid pace. June saw 467k layoffs, and for July the median forecast from economists is 328k….(read more)
The Federal Reserve today reported on their weekly purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS). In the five trading days between July 30 and August 5, the Federal Reserve purchased a total of $19.15 billion agency MBS. Since the inception of the program the Federal Reserve has spent $721.20 billion or 57.7% of the allocated $1.25 trillion….(read more)
OAKLAND – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Deputy Secretary Ron Sims today visited Palo Vista Garden Community, an Oakland Housing Authority (OHA) property that is receiving funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) for capital improvements and energy efficiency upgrades. It is one of seven developments that is receiving funding through OHA’s total $10.6 million Recovery Act Public Housing Capital Fund (PHCF) grant.