| Motley Fool Personal Finance: Beware The Two-Tier Mortgage
If you dislike horror stories then please look away now, especially if you borrow money. That's because a two-tier mortgage market is just around the corner. According to the Bank of England, lenders scaled back lending to households in the last three months of 2007 as strains in the money market took its toll. The Bank's quarterly credit survey shows that households found it increasingly difficult to borrow money towards the end of last year. Unsecured lending, which includes credit cards, personal loans and car financing, fell. Worryingly, secured lending, which are loans secured against properties, also fell as a result of banks reducing their appetite for risk. The upshot is that some homeowners who are coming off fixed-rate mortgage deals may find it difficult to get new loans.
UVa Aid Policy Gets a Facelift
A year ago, the University of Virginia joined the growing list of selective institutions altering their financial aid policies to make them friendlier to students from low-income families. Now it has decided that it needs to do even more, and do it sooner, than originally planned. .
Mortgage workers face more layoffs in Bay Area More than 1,600 ...
During the first two months of this year alone, the proposed reductions total around 1,620, according to a survey by this paper of Employment Development Department files. Washington Mutual was among the companies that recently filed layoff notices with the state. The bank said it has eliminated 100 jobs in Pleasanton. The housing slump has also jolted San Joaquin County's employment picture. But it has displayed less of a negative effect on jobs in the San Mateo-San Francisco-Marin regions, according to an analysis of EDD data. In San Joaquin County, housing related industries have lost 2,100 jobs over the year that ended in November. Construction lost 1,200 jobs. Real estate was down by 500 jobs. Credit intermediation a category that consists primarily of mortgage and home finance work shed 400 jobs during the 12 months.
Obituary: Newspaper pressroom superintendent Zoeller, 92, loved to ...
"He was a legend," said San Antonio Express-News Administrative Editor Barry Robinson. "If you worked here in those days, you were like a big family, and he was sort of like a daddy to all of us." He was James "Jimmy" Felton Zoeller, who retired from the San Antonio Express and the Evening News, which were merged into the Express-News, after more than 40 years as pressroom superintendent. Zoeller, 92, died Saturday. Zoeller didn't start working for the papers until the late 1930s, but his service to readers began when he was 14. He spent the early mornings of his teenage years delivering the newspaper to the Boerne/Comfort area, sometimes by car and other times on horseback. After graduating from Boerne High School and marrying his high school sweetheart, Anita, Zoeller started working as an apprentice pressman.
Tynes enjoying spotlight
They're a wild card team looking to repeat the success of teams like the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers, who wTo make the playoffs, New York went on an improbable six-game road win streak. With Sunday's victory in Green Bay, the Giants have now won nine in a row on the road. .
The Weedpatch Gazette
So it is no wonder much of the criticism directed at him is justified; that is the fate of all those who try to stand up for beauty and romance. But it is this romanticism of Al that draws some of the best and brightest to him as well as making him hated by some others. Hollywood certainly recognized this about Al, and despite the fact Hollywood has done so much damage to America and few have condemned this more than me there is that long history of romance associated with it as the Dream Factory. One of the problems romantics like Al face in a "modern" America was evidenced by his embarrassing attempt to appear less wooden during the campaign; we all cringed at that kiss onstage, it was embarrassingly overdone almost like an attack on his wife rather than a display of genuine affection.
Chasing Perfection (It ain't over yet)
It has been a wild year for Bill Belichick's club. They were punished by the NFL for cheating after a win over the New York Jets in Week 1 and since that time, they have been on a mission. After a busy off-season the Pats upgraded their passing attack and the results have been impressive. The combination of Pro Bowl starters Tom Brady and Randy Moss has been outstanding. Brady was named The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year and also broke Peyton Manning's single season TD pass record (click here for the Brady TD Pass Tracker) and Moss broke Jerry Rice's single season TD reception record. (click here for the Moss TD Catch Tracker). Click here for the Randy Moss and Tom Brady photo gallery. Now it's on to the playoffs. .
Home Depot drops plan to buy bank owned by Mich.-based CMS Energy
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. had been seeking federal approval to create an industrial loan corporation but withdrew its bid in March. Industrial banks have been proliferating in recent years with 15 nonfinancial companies -- including Target Corp., UnitedHealth Group Inc., Toyota Motor Corp. and Harley-Davidson Inc. -- among their owners. Home Depot spokesman Ron DeFeo said Thursday that political or regulatory opposition had nothing to do with the company's decision to inform EnerBank this week that it would not go through with the deal. "Moving into the 2008 fiscal year, this acquisition is no longer a part of our strategy," DeFeo said, noting that the company is "focusing all of our efforts on our retail business." In August, Home Depot completed the sale of its wholesale distribution business, HD Supply, to a group of private equity groups for $8.5 billion.
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