Personal Finance News

BOSTON (Reuters) - BlackRock Inc plans to launch a portfolio that will let wealthy individual investors access hedge funds that have boosted pension funds' and endowments' returns, the company said in a regulatory filing on Thursday. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - Just over 31,000 homeowners have received permanent loan modifications under the Obama administration's mortgage relief plan, a big setback for the government's embattled effort to stem the foreclosure crisis. Full Story »

NEW YORK - While others are blowing their holiday budgets, you can set an example and send a message by giving a gift with a focus on personal finance. Full Story »

BOSTON - Spicy numbers make it easy to see emerging markets' allure: The average Latin American stock fund has more than doubled this year. Full Story »

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. fixed home loan rates edged above record lows in the past week, tracking bond yields higher following surprise improvement in November employment, home funding company Freddie Mac said on Thursday. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Treasury Department said on Thursday that losses from the government's $700 billion financial rescue fund are likely to rise as disbursements to battle mortgage foreclosures increase. Full Story »

PHOENIX - Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard will be in Washington on Thursday to meet with executives from some of the nation's largest banks. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - The number of homeowners on the brink of foreclosure fell in November, the fourth straight monthly decline, as mortgage companies evaluated whether borrowers were eligible for help. Full Story »

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Don't pay your mortgage, and eventually the bank will own your home. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - The House voted Wednesday to extend $31 billion in popular tax breaks, including an income tax deduction for sales and property taxes, to be financed with a tax increase on investment fund managers and a crackdown on international tax cheats. Full Story »

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - Three men were under arrest and two other suspects were at large Wednesday after a violent robbery at an Orange County mansion owned by the founder of a collapsed subprime mortgage lender. Full Story »

NEW YORK - SL Green Realty Corp. said Wednesday it bought the first mortgage loan secured by property at 510 Madison Ave in New York from Union Labor Life Insurance Co. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. wholesalers started restocking in October for the first time in more than a year, suggesting the economy could get a lift as a long-running effort by businesses to pare inventories reaches an end. Full Story »

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Demand for U.S. home loans rose last week to the highest level in about two months, mostly from borrowers taking advantage of low mortgage rates to refinance, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday. Full Story »

CHICAGO - Republican candidate for governor Andy McKenna proposed dramatically cutting state spending to rescue Illinois' finances without an income tax increase. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - Mortgage application volume increased 8.5 percent during the week ending Dec. 4, as more borrowers refinanced loans to lock in interest rates near record lows, according to a report Wednesday from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Full Story »

PHILADELPHIA - Five people were charged with using a supposed mortgage-rescue program to steal nearly $15 million in home equity from homeowners facing foreclosure in suburban Philadelphia. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators have sued a defunct California investment brokerage and its former CEO, accusing them of fraud in selling more than $300 million worth of risky mortgage-backed securities to unsophisticated investors. Full Story »