Finance

Bank of America issued just $7.9 billion of Ginnie Mae securities in the fourth quarter, a 71% plunge from the same period in 2010, according to new figures compiled by ASR's sister publication, National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report.

If the U.S. economy needs more stimulus, resuming the Federal Reserve's MBS purchase program “would probably be the best course of action,” according to San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams.

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.

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

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.

Recent revisions made to the Home Affordable Refinancing Program (HARP) appear to have sparked an increase in loan applications, raising hopes that more underwater mortgages could refinance.

Henderson Global Investors has hired John Feeney as head of real estate debt in its secured credit team.

Ally Bank is going to issue a $1 billion auto transaction under its Ally Auto Receivables Trust 2012-2. For the Securities and Exchange Commission filing related to the deal, please click here.

Home Loan Servicing Solutions (HLSS) – an entity whose sole mission in life is to buy servicing rights from Ocwen Financial Corp. – finally went public this week, raising roughly $186 million in cash.

More details are highlighted on bond insurer MBIA's reported losses in the fourth quarter of 2011 from yesterday's article from ASR sister publication The Bond Buyer.

Turning foreclosed properties into rentals on a mass scale will reduce "some of the fears that an avalanche of distressed properties" will rattle the housing market, according to a new report from Wells Fargo Securities (WFS).

Credit card charge-offs are expected to remain low in 2012 for as long as bankcard trusts maintain their current credit characteristics, Standard & Poor's said in an emailed note this morning.