The average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan fell to 4.14% from 4.2% last week, Freddie Mac said Thursday.
Interest rates have been pushed down as investors, skittish about the economy, have abandoned stocks for U.S. Treasuries, according to Mike Fratantoni, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association.
But lower mortgage rates have not boosted the housing market.
Applications for mortgages used to purchase homes have been running about 10% behind the pace of a year ago, according to Mortgage Bankers Association stats.
Hot US Companies To Own In Right Now: China North East Petroleum Holdings Limited(NEP)
China North East Petroleum Holdings Limited engages in the exploration and production of crude oil in northern China. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 295 producing wells with proven reserves of 5,476,200 barrels of crude oil at Qian?an 112, Hetingbao 301, Daan 34, and Gudian 31 oilfields. The company, through its subsidiary, Song Yuan Tiancheng Drilling Engineering Co., Ltd., provides contract land drilling and other oilfield services for state-owned and non-state-owned oil companies. China North East Petroleum Holdings Limited is headquartered in Song Yuan City, the People?s Republic of China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By David Dittman]
Question: Dave, any thoughts on NextEra Energy Partners LP (NYSE: NEP)? And, if you can build on that, maybe talk about how to approach an initial public offering (IPO) in general. Thanks.
- [By Robert Rapier]
Another YieldCo,�Nextera Energy Partners�(NYSE: NEP) which will own and operate renewable energy plants built by�NextEra Energy�(NYSE: NEE) launched June 27. NEP priced its IPO at $25 per share, then saw the share price surge to $32.36 on the first day of trading. NEP�� initial portfolio will consist of wind and solar farms in the US and Canada with a total generating capacity just under a gigawatt.
Top Dow Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: Akamai Technologies Inc.(AKAM)
Akamai Technologies, Inc. provides content delivery and cloud infrastructure services for accelerating and improving applications over the Internet in the United States and internationally. The company offers application and cloud performance solutions to enhance the operation of the applications used by enterprises to connect with their employees, suppliers, and customers. Its solutions include Web Application Accelerator, which enables enterprises to run various applications; and IP Application Accelerator that is designed to optimize the performance, availability, and real-time sensitivity associated with IP-enabled applications delivered over Internet-related protocols. The company also provides video and software solutions that are designed to enable enterprises to execute their large file management and distribution strategies, which include media delivery solution to entertainment industry; and electronic software delivery solution that handles the distribution of s oftware for its customers. In addition, it offers Website optimization services for accelerating business-to-consumer Websites that integrate collaborative content and applications into their online architecture; security and protection solutions that address the Internet security requirements; and network operator solutions, which provide custom solutions to commercial and government customers. Further, the company provides mobile content adaptation solution; and advertising decision solutions that enable advertisers, agencies, publishers, and networks to buy and sell advertising, as well as network data feeds, Website analytics, and business performance management services. It markets and sells its services and solutions through direct sales and services organization; and through active channel partners. Akamai Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]
Akamai expects strong growth over the next four years. Thanks to its high quality services, it�� an industry leader. There will likely be increased investments, which could impact the bottom line. Macroeconomic conditions and stock market manipulation also pose risks. However, potential rewards still outweigh risks for Akamai.
- [By Alex Planes]
How many times have you heard (or said) that computer programming seems like a pretty great job? Many of the best companies to work for are major employers of software engineers. The Fool's own list of the 25 best companies in America has three: Google (NASDAQ: GOOG ) , Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM ) , and IBM. Google and Akamai also place highly on Glassdoor's latest Best Places to Work list, which is topped by Facebook (NASDAQ: FB ) , one of the few companies to inspire an award-winning film about (among other things) coding software.
Top Dow Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: HealthSouth Corporation (HLS)
HealthSouth Corporation offers inpatient rehabilitative healthcare services in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company primarily operates inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and long-term acute care hospitals, which provide treatment on both an inpatient and outpatient basis. Its inpatient rehabilitation hospitals offer services to patients who require institutional rehabilitation care, and patient care is provided by nursing and therapy staff as directed by a physician order. As of December 31, 2010, the company operated 97 inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, including 68 owned hospitals and 29 jointly owned hospitals; 6 freestanding long-term acute care hospitals; 32 outpatient rehabilitation satellite clinics; 25 licensed hospital-based home health agencies; and managed 4 inpatient rehabilitation units through management contracts. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Maria Armental var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach]
HealthSouth Corp.(HLS) said it expects to exceed its earnings projections after it increased its ownership interest in Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital, in Worcester, Mass.
- [By Brad Thomas]
As the only healthcare REIT with a "hospital-focused" platform, MPW is a relatively new REIT that was formed (in 2004) to lease from many of the nation's leading hospital operators, including Prime Healthcare Services, Kindred Healthcare (KND), HealthSouth (HLS), Health Management Associates (HMA), Community Health Systems (CYH), Vibra Healthcare, Ernest Health Inc., and IASIS Healthcare.
- [By Rich Duprey]
Rehab hospital operator�HealthSouth (NYSE: HLS ) announced this morning its second-quarter dividend on its 6.5% Series A convertible perpetual preferred stock�of $16.25�per share.
Top Dow Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: Centrex Metals Ltd (CXM)
Centrex Metals Limited (Centrex) is an Australia-based company engaged in iron ore exploration on wholly owned tenements in conjunction with joint venture partners Wuhan Iron & Steel (Group) Co. (WISCO) and Baotou Iron & Steel (Group) Co. (Baotou). The Company�� principal projects include WISCO joint ventures (Eyre Iron: Centrex 40%, Port Spencer: Centrex 50%), Bungalow joint venture (Centrex 70%), Wilgerup (Centrex 100%) and Exploration (Centrex 100%). The Bungalow / Minbrie magnetite deposit is located 9 kilometers north of the coastal town of Cowell on the Eyre Peninsula and around 100 kilometers from the Port Spencer joint venture site. The Goulburn and Archer tenements cover an extensive area with a number of base metal, gold and iron deposits and occurrences. Advisors' Opinion:- [By James E. Brumley]
Call it a hunch (because that's all it is), but I think Cardium Therapeutics Inc. (NYSEMKT:CXM) at least belongs on your watchlist, if not already in your portfolio. CXM shares have dropped a handful of key hints that say the bulls are just one good nudge away from catapulting this stock upward.
Top Dow Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: BlackRock Muniyield Michigan Quality Fund II Inc (MYM)
BlackRock MuniYield Michigan Quality Fund II, Inc. (the Fund), formerly BlackRock MuniYield Michigan Insured Fund II, Inc., is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund seeks to provide shareholders with as high a level of current income exempt from federal and Michigan income taxes as is consistent with its investment policies and prudent investment management by investing primarily in a portfolio of long-term municipal obligations the interest on which, in the opinion of bond counsel to the issuer, is exempt from federal and Michigan income taxes.
The Fund�� allocation in long-term investments include transportation, hospital, lease revenue, sales tax, education and housing. BlackRock Advisors, LLC is the manager of the Fund.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
But now that markets have had time to react, a number of different opinions are surfacing about how important Detroit's bankruptcy is:
Investment manager BlackRock said early this week that its analysts "anticipate the impact of the event will be much smaller than its size might indicate," calling Detroit "an idiosyncratic situation" and saying that therefore its analysts "do not anticipate a widespread systemic effect." UBS noted that "precedents that do exist would appear to favor holders of [general-obligation municipal] bonds backed by an unlimited property tax" in its argument that the bankruptcy shouldn't create big problems, also noting that muni-bond insurance companies cover almost 90% of Detroit's debt. Citigroup notes that "the magnitude of Detroit's economic and financial problems dwarfs those of any other large local government in the U.S. by a wide amount" in arguing that muni-bond yields aren't likely to rise too far. Taking the other side of the argument, muni-bond specialist Nuveen Asset Management believes that "municipal investors should now view all Michigan general-obligation bonds as having no greater standing than any other form of municipal obligations," reversing the general understanding that general-obligation bonds backed by broad powers to tax are inherently more secure than bonds with more limited sources of revenue backing them. Indeed, Michigan-specific muni-bond funds took much more serious hits over the week than the broad muni-bond market, with BlackRock MuniYield Michigan (NYSE: MYM ) falling almost 5% since last Thursday and Nuveen Michigan Quality Income (NYSE: NUM ) posting about a 4% loss. Analyst Meredith Whitney went a step further, predicting a wave of municipal bankruptcies resulting from Detroit's action. Yet after having cried wolf in late 2010 and having proven to be wrong in her expected 12-month timeline for massive defaults, Whitney has had her credibility questioned by many ex
Top Dow Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: Scripps Networks Interactive Inc(SNI)
Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. operates as a lifestyle content company in the United States and internationally. It engages in the operation of television networks, including Home and Garden Television, Food Network, Travel Channel, DIY Network, Cooking Channel, and Great American Country. The company also operates Websites, including FoodNetwork.com, Food.com, CookingChannelTV.com, HGTV.com, DIYnetwork.com, and Travelchannel.com that are associated with its television networks and other Internet-based businesses serving food, home, and travel related categories. Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Will Ashworth]
Next Page
Top Potential Buyouts: #2, Scripps Networks Interactive (SNI)/AMC NetworksIn February, I discussed potential buyouts that could take place within the cable industry. One of the scenarios I mentioned was a merger between Scripps Networks Interactive (SNI) and AMC Networks (AMCX). The combined entity would have three of the top cable networks in terms of viewership with AMC, HGTV and Food Network. Both companies are family-controlled, so any deal would require the support of both the Dolans (AMC) and Scripps (HGTV, Food Network).
- [By Will Ashworth]
Somebody will buy Scripps Networks Interactive (SNI), given that HGTV and Food Network are both in the top 20. It looked momentarily like Discovery Communications (DISCA) might be the suitor, but the company backed out of talks this past week, preferring to focus on overseas expansion.
- [By Sara Hov]
Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI ) looks stronger than ever after a great first quarter.�
While most cable networks experienced a dip in viewership largely because of the Olympics, Scripps' popular channels -- including HGTV, Food Network, and Travel Channel -- actually increased viewership numbers, especially in the key 25- to 54-year-old demographic advertisers covet.
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