Booming banks say consumers may not see lower mortgage rates
JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, the nation’s largest mortgage lenders, said Friday they won’t make home loans much cheaper for consumers, even as they reported booming profits from that business.
Those bottom lines have been padded by federal initiatives to stimulate the economy. The Federal Reserve is spending $40 billion a month to reduce mortgage rates to encourage Americans to buy homes. Instead, its policies may be generating more benefits for banks than borrowers.
“The government can’t force banks to give out loans at lower rates any more than they can force Macy’s to sell me sheets for a dollar,” said Karen Shaw Petrou, managing partner at consulting firm Federal Financial Analytics.
Since the Fed announced its mortgage initiative, rates have ticked down. But banking analysts say the cost of issuing the loans has fallen much more, significantly boosting bank profits....
I guess I should explain what I meant by "criminally" in case I get taken to task. For the bankers, the rampant fraud and financial raping of the little guy. The oil tycoons: I think it's criminal that they charge what they do for a barrell, create false shortages, etc, just because they can. It's no different than if I was charging $300 for a hotdog to someone who was starving that had no other options. We should have been energy independent long ago and even if we took the iniative now, we're still looking 10 years into the future before we begin reaping any benefits.
True, Scott, and too much profit is being stuffed into bank officials pockets anyway. Apparently the repub. VP candidate had a good idea, Paul Ryan: ‘I Agree’ We Need To Reinstate Glass-Steagall. But he's the VP candidate and can't do anything about bankers and financiers. I doubt if Mitty wants to do anything to them.
But of course there need to be some fixes to Congress ‘Evil’ lobbyist Jack Abramoff talk US politics (short YouTube) in particular and the federal government, A Culture of Corruption. Something that the Republicans have so far refused to do. If a politician doesn't want to fix these problems be he Republican or Democrat -- don't elect him
Dr. Alan Cairns | 3/9/2009
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fellowsoldiers: "http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22650903]]]ecumenical/muslim response..."
