NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks appear on track for more gains today. The market is getting a boost from an encouraging report on China’s economic growth as well as strong quarterly results from Apple and several other big companies. The Dow had gained more than 1 percent by early afternoon, up close to 200 points. The broader indexes are seeing even stronger gains, with the S&P 500 up more than 30 and the Nasdaq up about 90.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators are relaxing the rules banks must follow in packaging and selling mortgage securities. The aim is to spur broader home lending. Regulators are also requiring fewer borrowers to make hefty down payments.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top New York financial regulator is accusing the nation’s largest servicer of subprime mortgages of abuses that could potentially harm hundreds of thousands of borrowers. New York’s Superintendent of Financial Services has issued a letter to Ocwen Financial Corp., documenting the same kinds of suspicious actions that worsened the housing crisis, including backdating foreclosure warnings and loan denials, making it nearly impossible for borrowers to appeal the company’s decisions.
UNDATED (AP) — Federal officials are pledging regulatory attention and financial help to rural towns hit hard by the subprime mortgage crisis. Government data provided to The Associated Press by researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Middlebury College show subprime loans were distributed in the rural U.S. at even higher rates on average than in the Sun Belt cities devastated by risky lending.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The final report on state unemployment before next month’s elections shows jobless rates dropped in 31 U.S. states last month. Two states with hard-fought Senate campaigns, Colorado and Kentucky, experienced the biggest declines in unemployment. Colorado’s fell to 4.7 percent, and Kentucky’s rate dropped to 6.7 percent. Nationwide, the unemployment rate eased to 5.9 percent in September.
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