Halifax has announced it will raise its standard variable rate (SVR) from 3.50% to 3.99% beginning May 1.

First Marblehead Corp. sold its data services company and legacy trust administration business to Route 66 Ventures for $13.7 million.

American Electric Power's (AEP) Texas Central Co. (TCC) is issuing an $800 million utility-backed securitization.

Perpetual Trustee Co. is in the market with the first Australian ABS for this year.

MORTGAGE DATA 30-yr. Fixed 15-yr. Fixed 5-yr Treasury 1-yr Treasury- MBA Refi Home Purchase Rate Mortgage Rate Mortgage Indexed ARMs Indexed ARMs Index Index Week ending 03/22/12 4.08%

Manager Activity: Autos Book Runner Amount (US$ Mil) Rank Mkt.

2012 2011 2010 ABS (Public + 144A) 46,622.7 28,799.3 31,574.3 ABS (Public + 144A excluding CDOs) 45,210.1 27,679.5 31,399.3 ABS (Public Only) 32,967.5 14,093.1 10,715.9 ABS (144A Only) 13,655.2 14,706.2 20,858.4 Non-Agency MBS 6,323.2 14,174.3 5,253.8 Agency MBS 47,824.8 85,996.0 114,256.5 CMBS 3,591.8 10,662.0 4,041.9

The recently unveiled HARP 2.0 initiative should be "fully" operational in late March or early April and is already exceeding expectations, according to Housing and Urban Development secretary Shaun Donovan.

What do the federal bureaucrats who run Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac know that private mortgage lenders don't?

The government's bulk sale initiative to turn foreclosed properties into rentals could be "counterproductive" in certain states, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR)which is demanding the initiative be scaled back.

After a week of relative quietude via limited data and events that had many participants on vacation for the holiday-shortened week, headlines quickly heated back up to roil the mortgage market.

A federal judge has ordered the former CEO of Brookstreet Securities Corp. to pay a maximum $10 million penalty in a securities fraud case related to the financial crisis.