Homeowner insurance provider Chubb (CB) is having a rough day, as the company was downgraded to market perform from outperform at FBR Capital. The downgrade was accompanied by a price-target lowering from $60 to $65. This news forced the stock more than a percentage point lower in pre-open trade, and CB was more than 2% lower in early trading.

I find it rather difficult to believe that CB is going to get anywhere near $60 anytime soon. The shares are currently trending sideways between the support of its 10- and 20-monthly moving averages and the $53 to $55 region. I'm not sure why the company's target price would be set in all-time high range, but I am not one of the expert analysts.

Continue reading FBR Downgrades Chubb, Sending Shares Lower

FBR Downgrades Chubb, Sending Shares Lower originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) expects almost half of all U.S. homeowners to be underwater -- figuratively, of course -- by 2011.

Declines in home prices and the fact that some of those difficult mortgages just aren't going away put 26% of homeowners in this situation by the end of last March, and it seems the situation is only going to get worse. Unlike the early stages of the credit crisis, which were driven by subprime mortgages, the next iteration will have a greater effect on prime mortgage borrowers, which comprise two-thirds of the loans outstanding.

Continue reading Half of all mortgages to be underwater by 2011

Half of all mortgages to be underwater by 2011 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When you're serving your country, there's a good chance you'll move around a few times . . . which can conflict with the traditional American dream of homeownership. Soldiers who bought homes several years ago could be stuck selling now at depressed prices -- and on fairly short notice.

Needless to say, the financial pressure can be profound. A Staff Sergeant with a decade of service behind him, for example, is paid just under $37,000 a year. Even when you add in the health care and other benefits provided by the Department of Defense, it's still hard to handle a serious loss on a home.

The February stimulus plan included provisions to help military personnel in this situation, but little has happened. Soldiers complain that information is hard to find and guidelines aren't available. So far, none of the funds have been disbursed, and the federal government is keeping its collective mouth shut.

Continue reading Military housing woes to persist for a while

Military housing woes to persist for a while originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Home foreclosure filings in the United States hit a record 1.9 million in the first half of 2009, according to RealtyTrac --- on more than 1.5 million properties. Again, unemployment is one of the primary culprits, as a lack of income makes it pretty tough to bring a loan at risk of default up to date. The number of filings is up 9% from the second half of 2008 and up almost 15% from the same period last year.

Last month, foreclosure filings were up 5% relative to May and up 33% from June 2008. The month's action was the third highest on record, and it was the fourth month in a row in which there were filings on more than 300,000 properties.

Continue reading Gov't aid can't prevent H1 foreclosure record

Gov't aid can't prevent H1 foreclosure record originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Citigroup announces mortgage help, will it help the stock at all?

Citigroup announces mortgage help, will it help the stock at all? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

One of our readers asked the following question about the cost of foreclosures.

• "I would like someone to explain where the costs of a foreclosure go. It was reported on TV that the average cost is $75,000.00 per house. Why so much and can someone breakdown who gets the money. Legal, recording fees, advertising, etc."

A report by the Joint Economic Committee of Congress estimates that the average cost of a foreclosure, to the homeowner, lender, local government, and neighbors (whose homes decline in value), is $78,000. By contrast, preventing the foreclosure would cost $3,300 per home on average. Here's how the report breaks out that figure among various "stakeholders":

• Homeowner: $7,200
  Lender: $50,000
  Local government: $19,227
  Impact on neighbor's home value: $1,508
  Estimated total cost of foreclosure: $77,935

Homeowner: To me these costs might not even include everything, it might be more. The homeowner had the cost of moving in and moving out. Some disruption to normal working hours (and pay) if they still have a job and the loss of equity might be far greater. If you only lost 2% of a $400,000 home, you would have lost $8,000.

Continue reading Foreclosure costs explained: $75,000 per house

Foreclosure costs explained: $75,000 per house originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 04 Dec 2007 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Merrill Lynch holds someone accountable -- will Washington? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.