and the hits just keep on a-comin'................
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U.S. foreclosures jump, trending higher-RealtyTrac
Mon Jul 30, 2007 3:35PM EDT
NEW YORK, July 30 (Reuters) - U.S. home foreclosure filings rose 58 percent in the first six months of the year and could surpass 2 million this year as the housing market continues to deteriorate, a report said on Monday.
Foreclosure filings in the first half spiked from the same period last year to 925,986 as many overstretched borrowers have been caught between rising interest rates and falling home prices. The Federal Reserve has cited the faltering housing market as the biggest risk to economic growth.
The foreclosure filings were also up more than 30 percent from the previous six-month period, at a rate of one filing for every 134 U.S. households, said RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties.
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Paulson says Treasury to hit debt limit in October
Mon Jul 30, 2007 4:10PM EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Monday the government will hit an $8.965-trillion ceiling on its ability to borrow in early October and asked Congress to raise it.
"The actions that are available to the Treasury department to take in order to avoid breaching the statutory debt limit would create unnecessary uncertainty for the financial markets and result in costs to the government," Paulson said in a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and made public by the Treasury.
"These actions should be reserved only for extraordinary circumstances, and should be avoided," Paulson said.
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ECONOMIC REPORT
Treasury increases borrowing estimate for Q4
U.S. says it will borrow about $73 billion, $31 billion over earlier estimate
By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch
Last Update: 4:11 PM ET Jul 30, 2007
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Treasury Department increased the amount it expects to borrow in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007, saying it needs more money due to higher government outlays and lower issuances of state and local securities.
Over the July to September quarter, the Treasury expects to borrow about $73 billion of net marketable debt, assuming a cash balance of $60 billion at the end of September. That's $31 billion more than the Treasury said it would need in April 2007. In addition to higher spending, Treasury said adjustments in quarterly cash balances also made it necessary to borrow more.
Farther ahead, the Treasury estimated it would need to borrow $74 billion in debt over the first quarter of fiscal 2008. That would assume an end-of-December cash balance of $30 billion.
Also on Monday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson asked Congress to raise the U.S. debt limit. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Paulson said the current debt limit of $8.965 billion will be reached in early October. Paulson said a congressional decision to raise the limit would spare Treasury the need to take special actions that could create "unnecessary uncertainty" for financial markets.
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