Mortgage rates up, still below last year
WASHINGTON -- Long-term U.S. mortgage rates rose this week but remained at low levels that could entice purchasers amid the current home buying season.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased to 3.64 percent from 3.58 percent last week. It's far below its level a year ago of 3.87 percent.
The average rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages advanced to 2.89 percent from 2.81 percent.
The Federal Reserve last week gave a clear signal that an interest-rate increase is likely next month if the economy keeps improving. The disclosure of minutes of the Fed policymakers' most recent meeting in late April tipped U.S. government bond prices sharply lower, raising long-term bond yields.
Long-term bond yields tend to influence mortgage rates. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.87 percent Wednesday from 1.86 percent a week earlier. It dipped to 1.85 percent Thursday morning.
To calculate average mortgage rates Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., surveys lenders across the country at the beginning of each week. The average doesn't include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.
The average fee for a 30-year mortgage was 0.5 point, down from 0.6 point last week. The fee for a 15-year loan was unchanged at 0.5 point.
-- The Associated Press
Protesting resumes at McDonald's Corp.
OAK BROOK, Ill. -- Protesters who camped overnight outside the McDonald's Corp. headquarters in suburban Chicago called for higher wages as the company's shareholders met Thursday.
That call follows demonstrations Wednesday at the headquarters and in downtown Chicago. Protesters are demanding a $15 minimum wage and the ability to unionize.
"The importance of it is to actually get by, not to live paycheck to paycheck," McDonald's worker Naquasia LeGrand said.
McDonald's said that last July it raised wages to $1 above the local minimum wage for employees at its company-owned restaurants and gave them the ability to earn paid time off.
The push for a $15 minimum wage began in 2012. Since then, growing demonstrations have helped make hourly pay a political issue.
In the first quarter, the world's biggest burger chain reported $1.1 billion in profits on sales of $5.9 billion.
-- The Associated Press
Trustee has $171M for Madoff victims
The trustee liquidating Bernard Madoff's defunct securities business asked a judge for permission to pay $171 million to victims of his Ponzi scheme after reaching several settlements with funds that helped direct cash to the scam.
The payout, if approved, would be the seventh distribution to Madoff's customers, bringing the total they've received so far to $9.45 billion, according to a statement Thursday from the trustee, Irving Picard.
Since Madoff's arrest in December 2008, Picard has been raising cash for victims who lost $17.5 billion in principal. So far, he's recovered $11.1 billion, or almost 64 cents on the dollar, by suing the banks and offshore funds that funneled money into the scam as well as investors who profited from the fraud by withdrawing more money than they deposited. The previous payout to victims in December was more than $1.2 billion.
"The victims have waited years for restitution," Picard said in the statement. "This distribution is somewhat smaller than our prior actions, but it is still significant, especially for the additional claimants whose claims now will be fully satisfied."
A hearing on approval of the payout is scheduled for June 15 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. If the distribution goes ahead, almost 1,300 Madoff accounts will be paid in full on their claims, the trustee said.
Madoff, 78, pleaded guilty to fraud in 2009 and is serving a 150-year sentence.
-- Bloomberg News
Panelists: casinos will save Atlantic City
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Two new casinos proposed for northern New Jersey near New York City could save, or destroy, Atlantic City, panelists at a major casino conference said Thursday.
Speaking at the East Coast Gaming Congress and iGaming Institute, proponents called the proposed casinos the last, best chance to save Atlantic City, because the casinos would send $200 million a year -- for a time -- to the struggling seaside resort.
But Atlantic City casino officials say the new in-state competition could cause three to five of the surviving eight casinos there to shut down.
"Mark it down in your pads today: It's going to happen," Resorts Casino Hotel president Mark Giannantonio said.
He also said New Jersey adding casinos on New York City's doorstep will force New York State to add its own casinos in Manhattan, or nearby.
"The second these two new casinos open in north Jersey, New York City will retaliate violently," he said.
New Jersey voters will decide in November whether to authorize two new casinos in the northern part of the state. Locations are not specified, but the two leading contenders are at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, where the NFL's New York Jets and Giants play, and in Jersey City, where Reebok magnate Paul Fireman proposes a casino resort worth about $5 billion.
-- The Associated Press
Bullard says China's economy not an issue
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said risks associated with disappointing Chinese economic growth aren't going away and such worries shouldn't keep the U.S. central bank from pursuing the best monetary policy for the United States.
China's economy has "many things going on and there are many challenges that they face," Bullard, who votes this year on the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee, said Thursday in response to a question after giving a speech in Singapore. His prepared comments were a repeat of those he delivered Monday in Beijing.
"There's some risk there that the economy might not perform up to expectations," Bullard said of China. "That's a risk that we live with every day and we're going to live with that every day for many, many years to come, so I think you can't be on pins and needles and say I'm not going to pursue the right policy for the U.S. because something bad might happen in that situation."
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 05/27/2016