Incorporating in Wyoming Online

Mortgage applications remain at 5-year highs (AP)

AP - Mortgage applications remained at their highest level in more than five years last week, as borrowers took advantage of attractive rates and rushed to refinance their home loans.

Mortgage crisis spurs tougher rules for brokers (AP)

AP - Becoming a mortgage broker in Indiana used to be easy. Too easy.

NY Fed begins purchasing mortgage securities (AP)
AP - The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Monday it has begun purchasing mortgage-backed securities in an effort to bolster the battered housing market.

Mortgage rates fall to third straight record low (AP)

AP - Rates on 30-year mortgages fell to a record low for the third straight week and borrowers took advantage of the drop, sending new applications soaring.

FDIC says it will sell IndyMac (Reuters)

Reuters - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, in a statement on its Website, says it signed a letter of intent to sell Indymac Federal bank operations to thrift holding company controlled by IMB Management Holdings LP.

Private equity group buying IndyMac assets (Reuters)

Reuters - The assets of failed U.S. mortgage lender IndyMac are being bought by a group of private equity and hedge fund firms, including Dune Capital Management and J.C. Flowers & Co, which are putting up $1.3 billion in cash.

Estate Planning in a Down Market (BusinessWeek Online)
BusinessWeek Online - When times are tough, people tend to hold on to what they have that much more tightly. But for those who can get beyond that psychological response, there's a silver lining in today's combination of depressed asset values and low interest rates: Transferring assets to the next generation has rarely been less costly.

Mortgage rates drop to 37-year low (Reuters)
Reuters - Interest rates on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped for a ninth consecutive week, reaching their lowest level in 37 years, according to a survey released on Wednesday by home funding company Freddie Mac.

Wall St closes out worst year since Depression (Reuters)

Reuters - Wall Street closed out its worst year since the Great Depression on Wednesday after an unstoppable credit crisis and a dreadful economic outlook left investors questioning their faith in stock markets.

Jobless claims dive while mortgage rates ease again (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. weekly jobless claims plummeted last week but the improvement was probably a seasonal quirk rather than a turning point for the recession-ravaged labor market.

British house prices fell at record rate in 2008 (AP)
AP - House prices in Britain fell in 2008 at their fastest rate for at least 25 years, the country's biggest mortgage lender said Friday, stoking market expectations that the Bank of England will cut borrowing costs further next week.