The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to lower its target for the federal funds rate 25 basis points to 2 percent.
Recent information indicates that economic activity remains weak. Household and business spending has been subdued and labor markets have softened further. Financial markets remain under considerable stress, and tight credit conditions and the deepening housing contraction are likely to weigh on economic growth over the next few quarters.
Although readings on core inflation have improved somewhat, energy and other commodity prices have increased, and some indicators of inflation expectations have risen in recent months. The Committee expects inflation to moderate in coming quarters, reflecting a projected leveling-out of energy and other commodity prices and an easing of pressures on resource utilization. Still, uncertainty about the inflation outlook remains high. It will be necessary to continue to monitor inflation developments carefully.
The substantial easing of monetary policy to date, combined with ongoing measures to foster market liquidity, should help to promote moderate growth over time and to mitigate risks to economic activity. The Committee will continue to monitor economic and financial developments and will act as needed to promote sustainable economic growth and price stability.
Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman; Timothy F. Geithner, Vice Chairman; Donald L. Kohn; Randall S. Kroszner; Frederic S. Mishkin; Sandra Pianalto; Gary H. Stern; and Kevin M. Warsh. Voting against were Richard W. Fisher and Charles I. Plosser, who preferred no change in the target for the federal funds rate at this meeting.
In a related action, the Board of Governors unanimously approved a 25-basis-point decrease in the discount rate to 2-1/4 percent. In taking this action, the Board approved the requests submitted by the Boards of Directors of the Federal Reserve Banks of New York, Cleveland, Atlanta, and San Francisco.
Fishermen and banks both use mobile technology to do business.
Read an interesting article, no- profound article, in The Economist on the train home the other day. It was describing how mobile technology is now drastically changing lives of those living in Africa.
For exampls, money is being replaced by mobile money. Literally mobile money. You can pay for things and services, like haircuts, with cash on your mobile, and send money to relatives via text:
There's no reason to stash vast amounts of cash at home (and risk being robbed), or trek for hours to your nearest bank. You can have it all at your finger tips on you mobile. According to Rory Sutherland, fishermen in Africa are also finding that mobiles help them find the best place to sell their fish at the end of the day, and share info on weather/where the most fish are:
Guess the mobile is no longer just for talking-it's a tool, a way to enhance lives, and I'm guesssing, a way to destroy lives too.
Several big investors predict a in this story from Reuters. They suggest that the recession on Main Street (no one questions that we're having a recession) will be shallow.
Recently one of my friend got a mail from his bank, asking him to update his account information. He clicked on the link to fill out the information, and just a few days later, his bank account was emptied. Does this story sound familiar to you? This is called Spoofing / Phishing. In this post, i will explain you the process as to how this works and how you can ensure that you don't end up revealing your online identity to phishers.
[Image Source: ]
Email spoofing definition as obtained from the goes like this
E-mail spoofing is a term used to describe fraudulent email activity in which the sender address and other parts of the email header are altered to appear as though the email originated from a different source. E-mail spoofing is a technique commonly used for spam e-mail and phishing to hide the origin of an e-mail message. By changing certain properties of the e-mail, such as the From, Return-Path and Reply-To fields (which can be found in the message header), ill-intentioned users can make the e-mail appear to be from someone other than the actual sender. It is often associated with website spoofing which mimics an actual, well-known website but are run by another party either with fraudulent intentions or as a means of criticism of the organization's activities. The result is that, although the e-mail appears to come from the email indicated in the "From" field (found in the email headers) it actually comes from another e-mail address, probably the same one indicated in the "Reply To" field; if the initial e-mail is replied to, the delivery will be sent to the "Reply To" e-mail, that is, to the spammer's email.
Earlier, i had written a post from an educational perspective teaching the readers . Today lets discuss another form of Spoofing and how it works. The example scenario is the same which my friend faced ( wish he had read my earlier :( )
The figure below, has a snapshot (click on the image to enlarge) of the mail sent to me by the phisher pretending to be from a leading Indian Bank, . The email also contains a link which should be clicked to carry out the needful.
This URL might look to be safe from the look of it, as it has all the key features we have always been taught to check: Check for the domain ( in this case, the domain of the bank; axisbank.co.in), check for https. However, what we usually tend to forget that what we are seeing on the screen is not the actual URL but the text to be shown to the user. The actual URL will be revealed only once you click this link or hover your mouse on it.
Once the user clicks on the link, he is taken to the site which is an exact replica of his bank's site; thereby not giving a single slice of doubt to the user.
You must see that the looks like an exact replica of the
Whenever you click on a URL from a email or any other page and land onto a site pretending to be your bank site, the first thing to do should be to check the URL of the landing page again. Look for the domain again; Does it look like your bank's domain? (www.axisbank.com) Does it have an important security ingredient https on the logon page ? If not, beware, chances are that you are getting spoofed.
Below are the steps from my , which describes the steps to follow to stay away from Phishing Scams.
Always go through the URL of the website. A closer look at the URL can certainly give you clues about the fraudulent websites.
Never reply to emails asking for your bank account number, internet user details etc. Remember NO BANK asks you for such information. If they do, change your bank
The old saying “When in doubt, talk”, holds true here as well. If you are in a doubt about the email/website, just take the phone and call up the call center of the service to get an explanation on your doubt.
Forward spam that is phishing for information to and to the company, bank, or organization impersonated in the phishing email. Most organizations have information on their websites about where to report problems.
Don’t open email attachments sent to you by strangers. Email attachments can have programs which can affect your computers once opened.
Always follow steps to a healthy PC. You can read my previous post to learn more on this.
Always keep your Anti Virus Softwares, Spywares and Firewalls updated. You can use which happens to be a free service for this. Also read my previous post.
You can also, check this for more information.
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Once you determine the town/ are you want to buy commercial real estate in, and then your next step is to find a commercial building you feel that is ideal. After you’ve done that and you want to make an offer on that commercial property, and the seller accepts. Get excited, your day went just the way you wanted it to go, and you have already been pre-qualified for the commercial property you want to purchase. Rewind, back up, this is a perfectly realistic example, but before you begin your search for commercial real estate, it serves to your advantage to have an idea of some of the requirements when purchasing real estate.
Commercial Real Estate is Not Residential Real Estate
What this means is your credit score is not the main picture here. In purchasing residential real estate you want your credit to be as high as it can be, because your credit determines your interest rate, your monthly mortgage payment, and the amount of money you put down. In commercial real estate, lenders are not worried about your credit. They are more worried about your financial credentials in the respect of how much money you can put down. This leads to our next tip.
Banks Will Usually not Finance More Than %75 of the Appraised Value of the Property
Regardless of credit score, that is the general rule that lenders follow. Does this mean you have to come in with the %25? Not necessarily. A portion of it can come from you and the other portion can be done through seller financing (visit for more information on seller financing). For instance, let’s say the bank approved you %75 of the appraised value, and you can put down %15. The bank will not have a problem if the seller is willing finance the %10. If the seller is willing to finance the entire %25, then you may have a deal. But I must point out that deals like that are rare.
The Commercial Property Must Show Sufficient Debt-Repayment Ability
What lenders like to see is the ability that %75 of your gross income from your commercial property can pay the mortgage of your loan (Principle, Interest, Taxes, and Insurance). This information is determined by appraisers or you can ask the seller of the commercial property you wish to purchase.
Conclusion
I can go into lending guidelines and finance programs for commercial real estate, but that will be too lengthy and boring. For more information on commercial real estate you can e-mail us at or you can visit for some articles regarding commercial real estate. Realtors are definitely a good source of information regarding commercial real estate. We look forward to any questions and comments you may have. Thank you
Number of US homes facing foreclosure jumps 112 percent in first quarter from 2007 LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The number of U.S. homes heading toward foreclosure more than doubled in the first quarter from a year earlier, as weakening property values and tighter lending left many homeowners powerless to prevent homes from being auctioned to the highest bidder, a research firm said Monday.
Among the hardest hit states were Nevada, Florida and, in particular, California, where Stockton led the nation with a foreclosure rate that was 6.6 times the national average, Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. said.
Nationwide, 649,917 homes received at least one foreclosure-related filing in the first three months of the year, up 112 percent from 306,722 during the same period last year, RealtyTrac said.
The latest tally also represents an increase of 23 percent from the fourth quarter of last year.
RealtyTrac monitors default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.
All told, one in every 194 households received a foreclosure filing during the quarter. Foreclosure filings increased in all but four states.
The most recent quarter marked the seventh consecutive quarter of rising foreclosure activity, RealtyTrac noted.
"What would normally alleviate the foreclosure situation in a normal market is people starting to buy properties again," said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's vice president of marketing.
However, the unavailability of loans for people without perfect credit and a significant down payment is slowing the process, he said.
"It's a cycle that's going to be difficult to break, and we're certainly not at the breaking point just yet," Sharga added.
The surge in foreclosure filings also suggests that much-touted campaigns by lawmakers and the mortgage lending industry aimed at helping at-risk homeowners aren't paying off.
Hope Now, a Bush administration-organized mortgage industry group, said nearly 503,000 homeowners had received mortgage aid in the first quarter. Most of the aid was temporary, however.
Pennsylvania was a notable standout in the latest foreclosure data. The number of homes in the state to receive a foreclosure-related filing plunged 24.4 percent from a year earlier.
Sharga credited the decline to the state's foreclosure relief measures, noting that cities such as Philadelphia put in place a moratorium on all foreclosure auctions for April and implemented other measures aimed at helping slow foreclosures.
Nearly 157,000 properties were repossessed by lenders nationwide during the quarter, according to RealtyTrac.
The flood of foreclosed properties on the market has contributed to falling or stagnating home values, yet lenders have yet to implement heavy discounts on repossessed homes, Sharga said.
Nevada posted the worst foreclosure rate in the nation, with one in every 54 households receiving a foreclosure-related notice, nearly four times the national rate.
The number of properties with a filing increased 137 percent over the same quarter last year but only rose 3 percent from the fourth quarter.
California had the most properties facing foreclosure at 169,831, an increase of 213 percent from a year earlier. It also posted the second-highest foreclosure rate in the country, with one in every 78 households receiving a foreclosure-related notice.
California metro areas accounted for six of the 10 U.S. metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rates in the first quarter, RealtyTrac said.
Many of the areas -- including Stockton, Riverside-San Bernardino, Fresno, Sacramento and Bakersfield -- are located in inland areas of the state where many first-time buyers overextend themselves financially to buy properties that have plunged in value since the market peak.
"California still hasn't hit bottom," Sharga said. "We have a lot of California homes that are in early stages of default that may not be salvageable because either there's no market or financing available, or both."
Arizona had the third-highest foreclosure rate, with one in every 95 households reporting a foreclosure filing in the quarter. A total of 27,404 homes reported at least one filing, up nearly 245 percent from a year ago and up 45 percent from the last quarter of 2007.
Florida had 87,893 homes reporting at least one foreclosure filing, a 178 percent jump from the first quarter of last year and a 17 percent hike from the fourth quarter last year. That translates into a foreclosure rate of one in every 97 households.
The other states among the top 10 with the highest foreclosure rates were Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Kenya's mobile phone-enabled payment system M-Pesa has grown explosively over the last nine months, according to Russell Southwood's , which has been tracking the African mobile and internet markets for something like four years now. According to the operator, , gained 150,000 users in the three months to June last year, topped the million mark by December, and had reached 1.6m by January - despite, or perhaps because of, the country's election-related violence. [Update: Now 2m - see Comment below]. Southwood describes it as a 'breakthrough moment' for mobile payments - one that's being watched in the UK.
Making sure that your business is able to accept credit cards is not only a smart business decision; it can help protect your company against fraud investigations.
A number of identity hijackers operate by setting up phony merchant accounts under the names of legitimate businesses that do not actually take credit cards. They then set up imposter web sites and accept credit card transactions on behalf of the company.
This type of corporate identity theft has become more common over the past few years. There are ways to safeguard your business against it, however.
Set up your business to accept credit cards and keep a close on eye on your accounts. The minute you notice suspicious-looking activity, let your merchant account provider know about it. High Risk Credit Card Processor provides frequent and detailed reports to customers.
Surf the web at least once or twice a week for imposter websites set up under your company’s name. Corporate identity thieves will often go as far as setting up phony web domain names similar to your business. If you find a site that appears to be a fraudulent copy of your own business site, contact your merchant account provider immediately.
Another story about a borrower who:
1. Didn't understand the loan they were getting.
2. Couldn't really afford the house they bought.
3. Felt pressure from "people" (Realtor? Lender?) to get this type of loan.
She was able to make it through, many aren't so lucky.
If you don't understand the loan terms, or you feel that someone is pressuring you, you need to back off, take a second look at things and make sure that you're doing the right thing.
