Financial 411: The Buttonwood Conference Meets in Manhattan
Monday, October 25, 2010
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Financial 411
WNYC's Amy Eddings hosts a daily overview of financial news at 4:30 each weekday. This financial wrap delivers highlights of the day's business news delivered by WNYC's reporters with context, clarity and a New York perspective.
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News from the Housing Market
Housing dominated the day's business news.
The National Association of Realtors reports that sales of previously owned homes rose in September, after one of the worst summers in years. Sales increased more than 10 percent from August to September.
A third of those sales were homes in "distress." That includes foreclosure. And the ongoing wave of lawsuits and investigations into foreclosure practices by lenders could hurt the housing market. That's according to a top federal regulator.
FDIC Chief Sheila Bair said lawsuits by homeowners facing foreclosure "could ultimately be very damaging," as buyers might decide not to purchase foreclosed homes.
"Twenty-three percent of our members are telling us that they have clients who are no longer interested in purchasing a foreclosure," said Walter Moloney, the spokesman for the association that represents realtors. "So that could hint at some disruption to the market if this is not resolved quickly."
And the Obama administration says its foreclosure-prevention program showed little improvement in September, compared to August. More than half of the homeowners in the loan-modification program were disqualified.
Wall Street
The Dow Jones approached its highest close of the year. It jumped 31 points, ending at 11,164. The NASDAQ closed at 2,491, up about 11 points. The S&P 500 closed up three points, to 1,186.
The Buttonwood Conference
Bank executives, regulators, and leading economists gathered today in midtown Manhattan to evaluate the state of the U.S. economic recovery. Organized by The Economist magazine, the conference kicked off with former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin leading a simulation exercise, with a pretend White House economics team, dealing with a fictitious U.S. state about to default on its bonds.
WNYC’s Lisa Chow attended the conference, and spoke with Gregory Ip, one of the conference's moderators, and the U.S. Economics Editor of The Economist.
Comments [1]
Dear Amy,
I came across your article reporting on The Buttonwood Gathering and knew that one of the speakers at the conference was EconStories, the producers of the "Fear the Boom and Bust" rap video of Keynes and Hayek. So I thought you might be interested in another rap video about the economy. Next Media Animation, the Taiwanese animation studio and media company, has created a rap battle between President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao over the currency debate. With the ongoing G20 Summit in Seoul, I thought that this video hits on a very current and hot topic that might be of interest to you.
I hope you enjoy the video and that you'll share it with others.
http://www.nma.tv/2010/11/10/us-sino-currency-rap-battle/
If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Cheers,
Julie
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