In The News...

The first half of 2008 is shaping up to be very costly for the global banking sector. The estimate is that close to $390 billion has been written off in the past 12 months. It's the main reason many banks and their share prices have been crippled. Financial firms in Europe fell to their lowest levels since 2003. Here in the states, shares of Merrill Lynch fell to a six year low and Morgan Stanley a five year low while Lehman Brothers has lost 70% year-to-date, dropping to an eight year low.

A report out today says that more companies are laying off people than companies that are hiring. In June, 20.9% of workers said their bosses were hiring, while 21.5% said their employers were laying people off. A year ago, 30.3% said their firms were hiring and 15.1% said they were firing. The number of people who said they were worried about losing their jobs rose to 22.1% from 21.2% in May.

Gasoline prices moved higher this week as evidenced by Energy Information Administration. The average retail price for gasoline hit a record $4.10 a gallon, rising 1.6 cents over the last week and up $1.14 from a year ago. Because the consumer is being squeezed they cutting back on their driving and businesses are reducing their petroleum use. New revised data from EIA shows that U.S. oil demand in April, which is latest final monthly numbers available, was down 3.9%, or 811,000 barrels per day, from a year earlier.

Brought to you, courtesy of The Mortgage Market Guide