The DOL reports weekly unemployment insurance claims decreased to 502,000:In the week ending Nov. 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 502,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 514,000. [revised from 512,000] The 4-week moving average was ... Read more

From The Times: The worst is over, says Bank of England Governor Better-than-expected unemployment figures and a rosier growth forecast from the Bank of England raised hopes yesterday that Britain was beginning to claw its way towards economic recovery. ... Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank, said ... Read more

Yesterday I posted some excerpt from Freddie Mac's 10-Q: We believe that several of our mortgage insurance counterparties are at risk of falling out of compliance with regulatory capital requirements, which may result in regulatory actions that could threaten our ability to receive future claims p ... Read more

Ruth Simon at the WSJ has some details on permanent modifications: Mortgage Program Gathers Steam After Slow Start The administration won't release figures on completed modifications until December , but so far it appears that very few trial modifications are becoming permanent , often because ... Read more

Here is an unsolicited Principal Reduction Loan Modification (pdf) offer from BofA. (ht Dwight) A few background details: The homeowner bought the house in May 2005 for $420,000. The homeowner refinanced in March 2006. This included a negatively amortizing adjustable rate mortgage (NegAM ARM ... Read more

As I've noted several times, my general outlook is for GDP growth to be decent in Q4 (similar to Q3) and for sluggish and choppy GDP growth in 2010. I've been asked to list some possible upside surprises, and downside risks, to this forecast. Possible Upside Surprises: Consumer spending. ... Read more

Last week the FHA released a temporary guidance that relaxed some of the rules for condominiums. From the FHA: Temporary Guidance for Condominium Policy The Miami Herald has the key points: FHA moves to boost condo market • Increase from 30 percent to 50 percent the number of units in a pro ... Read more

Matt Padilla at the O.C. Register writes: Foreclosure notices hit record 8,800 Click on graph for larger image in new window. Graph from O.C. Register. ForeclosureRadar.com reports that outstanding foreclosure auction notices in Orange County rose to 8,895 at the end of September, ... Re ... Read more

Buried in the California Controller's November analysis is a guest article: Overview of the Commercial Property and Capital Markets with Implications for the State of California by Dr. Randall Zisler. (ht picosec) Here are some excerpts: Whereas excessive and imprudent leverage fed the bubble, d ... Read more

"[L]ooking into 2010 and perhaps to 2011, the most likely outcome is for growth to be suboptimal, unemployment to remain a vexing problem and inflation to remain subdued." Dallas Fed President Richard FisherAnd a little more Fed Speak ... (note: Fisher's speeches are always colorful). From Dal ... Read more