Mortgage Rates Mostly Unchanged; 30-Year Fixed at 4.88% -Freddie

Mortgage rates were mostly unchanged the latest week, with the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages edging slightly upward, according to Freddie Mac's (FMCC) weekly survey of mortgage rates.
Rates had risen earlier this year, hitting their highest level since April last month. They had slumped most of last year as Treasurys had declined amid economic uncertainty. The rates generally track the yields, which move inversely to Treasury prices.
"Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have averaged at or below 5% in every week but one this year, contributing to record home affordability," said Freddie

American Airlines again bumps up airfares

American Airlines has bumped up domestic fares by $10 per round trip, which could trigger the seventh fare increase this year by U.S. airlines.
American made the price change Wednesday. It also raised round-trip fares to Canada and Hawaii by $20.
It's uncertain whether other major airlines will follow American's lead going into the weekend. Carriers have been boosting fares in lockstep this year to try to keep pace with the rising cost of jet fuel. Occasionally, a price increase has been abandoned when other carriers haven't matched.
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Most recent fare increases have stuck, however, and the rapidly rising cost of airline tickets mirrors 2008, the last time oil prices soared above $100 a barrel, says Rick Seaney of FareCompare.com, who closely monitors ticket prices.
"Airlines who finally started making a profit late last year

Nervous Asian markets fall further

HONG KONG — Asian stock markets slipped further on Friday after sharp falls on Wall Street and higher-than-expected Chinese inflation data, even as oil prices eased back.
In the afternoon, a major Japanese earthquake caused the yen to fall sharply against the US dollar.
Tokyo's Nikkei ended the session down 1.72 percent, or 179.95 points, at 10,254.43, while Sydney fell 1.17 percent, or 54.90 points, to 4,644.80.
Hong Kong was down 0.60 percent in the afternoon, while the Shanghai Composite Index was off by 0.15 percent.
The falls came after steep losses on Thursday, when Shanghai lost 1.50 percent, and on Wall Street, where the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 indexes all ended down more than 1.8 percent.

Couple Bilked BofA-Led Lender Group of $130 Million, U.S. Says

March 11 (Bloomberg) -- A California couple was charged by the U.S. with defrauding an eight-bank lending group led by Bank of America Corp. of about $130 million by exaggerating the financial status of their decorating business.

Thomas Chia Fu, 61, and his wife, Cheri L. Shyu, 48, were arrested at their Newport Coast home by federal authorities, according to an e-mailed statement yesterday by U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. in Los Angeles. They were indicted on nine counts of bank fraud and face as long as 30 years in prison if convicted, prosecutors said in the statement.

The couple imported home-decorating items from China and obtained a $130 million revolving line of credit from the banks, according to the indictment. They borrowed against the

Tom Walsh: New CFO must steer GM away from bad habits

Let's take Chris Liddell at his word about why he's leaving General Motors after just 15 months on the job as chief financial officer.
But then let's watch closely how the new CFO, 38-year-old Dan Ammann, deals with mounting concern that GM has relaxed its financial discipline recently by reverting to the old habit of splurging on rebates and cut-rate leases to peddle its cars and trucks.
Liddell rattled off a list of major accomplishments Thursday during his short stint in Detroit:
• Four straight profitable quarters in a weak 2010 auto market.
• Slashing GM's debt from $15.8 billion to $4.6 billion.
• Launching a successful public offering of GM stock last November.
• Removing the stain of so-called material weakness in GM's

Wal-Mart to Break Ground on Small Stores Next Week in Arkansas

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) will next week start building its first Express stores, a format less than a tenth the size of an average supercenter, according to building permits obtained by Bloomberg News.
The world’s largest retailer will begin construction March 16 on a 14,400-square-foot store in Gentry, Arkansas, a town of 3,158 about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of the company’s Bentonville headquarters, according to the permits.
While Wal-Mart has kept details of the new stores a closely guarded secret, Steve Restivo, a company spokesman, confirmed the location of the store openings and

Stocks fall sharply as economy looks less sure-footed

NEW YORK — Stocks tumbled, giving the Dow Jones industrial average its biggest drop since August, as increases in jobless claims and the trade deficit and a slowdown in China’s export growth spurred concern the economy may falter.
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Caterpillar Inc. and United Technologies Corp. slumped at least 2.4 percent, pacing declines among industrial companies.
Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. dropped at least 3 percent as crude oil declined a third day amid investor concern that demand for fuel will