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| Florida firm halts funding of mortgages
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| Taylor, Bean & Whitaker ceased all mortgage-origination operations immediately. The FHA on Tuesday suspended the firm from originating new FHA-insured mortgages, and Ginnie Mae also terminated Taylor, Bean & Whitaker as an issuer of its mortgage-backed securities program.
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| @ Sarasota Herald Tribune | Posted: 08/07/09 at 0201 EDST
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| In slow economy, sex sells for Tampa romance authors
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| Amid a languid book market and deflated U.S. economy, escapist romance became the No. 1 category among best-seller lists last year. That's thanks in part to a hotbed of more than 50 Tampa Bay romance writers crafting book after book of torrid temptations and dashing heroes.
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| @ Tampa Tribune | Posted: 08/07/09 at 0315 EDST
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| Borrowers to get settlement cash
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| About 5,700 of Countrywide's struggling Florida customers will soon receive at least $3,000.
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| @ Miami Herald | Posted: 08/07/09 at 0320 EDST
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| Lawsuit against Wells Fargo and Broward attorney certified as class action
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| Circuit Judge Thomas Barkdull today certified as a class action a lawsuit against an attorney, along with his law firm, who collected foreclosure-related fees from Wells Fargo mortgage holders.
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| @ Palm Beach Post | Posted: 08/07/09 at 0330 EDST
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| Don't take mortgage into your retirement
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| @ Chicago Tribune | Posted: 08/07/09 at 0345 EDST
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| Wisconsin farmland values dip but are still above national average
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| Wisconsin farmland values dipped slightly in 2008 but were still much higher than the national average, new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows. The value of the state's farmland with buildings averaged $3,750 per acre, down 3% from 2007 but 79% higher than the $2,100 per acre average for the nation, according to the USDA.
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| @ Milwaukee Journal
| Posted: 08/07/09 at 0400 EDST
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| Job Losses Slow but Still Weigh on Economy
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The Labor Department said Thursday that 550,000 people filed new claims for unemployment insurance benefits last week -- down from 588,000 the week before and part of a slow downward trend in the barometer that dates back to March. Various regional surveys of businesses have also shown more promising evidence about the job market.
Editor's Comment: This is a good read
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| @ Washington Post | Posted: 08/07/09 at 0415 EDST
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| Initial claims down slightly
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| In the week ending Aug. 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 550,000, a decrease of 38,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 588,000. The 4-week moving average was 555,250, a decrease of 4,750 from the previous week's revised average of 560,000.
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| @ U.S. Department of Labor | Posted: 08/07/09 at 0419 EDST
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| China’s consumption challenge
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| A REBALANCED global economy requires America to consume less and save more. That means the world’s three big surplus economies—China, Germany and Japan—will have to save less and spend more.
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| @ The Economist
| Posted: 08/07/09 at 0646 EDST
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| Monies To and From Costa Rica Flow Freely
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| In 2008, Costa Rica received an estimated $635 million in remittances, funds transferred by foreign workers to their home countries. Over 70 percent of remittances received in Costa Rica in 2008 were sent from the United States. However, at most local Western Union sites, the majority of remittance transfers are not incoming funds. Rather, they are funds leaving the country, bound primarily for Nicaragua.
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| @ Tico Times Costa Rica | Posted: 08/07/09 at 0652 EDST
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| IMF unlikely to impose punitive social conditionalities on Jamaica.
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| The Jamaican Government has announced it has no choice but to return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the second time in 33 years, as it confronts the spectre of being unable to meet its financial obligations. It is seeking US$1.2 billion and hopes this will go some way to alleviate the predicament the country now faces.
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| @ Jamaica Observer | Posted: 08/07/09 at 0655 EDST
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