PLEASE GIVE!
To those of us privileged enough to take for granted things such as internet access and our daily cups of coffee, please consider giving to Haiti. You can skip a latte. Every penny counts.
Compassion International
American Red Cross
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… When You’re Done, Learn Tact
Less importantly… MUCH LESS importantly… I have a plea for business and financial reporters, bloggers, and pundits everywhere. Please learn how to structure a headline, report an appropriate story, and grow a heart.
Example:
US Insurers Have Limited Exposure in Haiti
Ieva M. Augstums – The Associated Press
Augstums highlights “exposure” while stressing themes such as “insured loss estimates” and reporting that these amounts “could have been higher”. Hello. Many people; flesh and blood, breathing, living, people, died. And you are worried about money? The stock market, insurers, capitalist pigs, and taxpayer bailed out corporations can all afford to take a hit if it means helping out the victims and survivors of this horrendous disaster.
The story also reads that markets and insurance stocks were little moved by the catastrophy. Apparently, people are concerned about more than just the bottom line and corporate profits. And you even bother mentioning that insurance companies did not respond for comment? Perhaps that is a clue that your story probably isn’t worth the internet bandwidth you’re wasting.
The article ends quoting a Citigroup representative about a “seriously damaged” building, with no follow up to the fact that Citi employs more than 40 in Port-au-Prince and sent a rescue team to search for their missing employees. The chastised bank cares about people. So should those who have chastised them the most *cough*COUGH*. I am calling you out too Lavonne Kuykendall, but at least you can form a more empathetic headline.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010, 21:58 | posted in currents | no comments »
USA Today reports that starting February 15th, mortgage brokers will no longer be able to order appraisals on FHA loans. This rule is clearly a step in the right direction in changing the housing market as it is opposed by both the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the Appraisal Institute.
Despite the housing bust, it seems that little has changed in business mentality. The boom times were fueled by excessive valuations and the illusion that money would keep flowing from the heavens. Admittedly, realtors and mortgage brokers have been amongst the hardest hit and have the biggest reason to fight. However, it seems that some are quite out of touch with the new reality.
Realtors, brokers, and loan consultants, who hope for higher valuations to earn higher commissions, have traditionally been able to hire their own appraisers. This changed last May when all loans issued by Freddie and Fannie required unrelated and independent appraisals.
“The appraisal must be completely independent of the lending side, but there are extensive time delays,” says Joe Ventrone, vice president for regulatory and industry affairs with NAR. “The values that come back are lower. A $300,000 house might come back (appraised) at $200,000.”
Most would argue that a home appraised at $200,000 is actually a $200,000 house, Mr. Ventrone. The go-go days of real estate are over, but those who profited most from it refuse to let it go. Realtors are in a huff after having seen their commissions drop like rocks, only to see even lower appraisals. Appraisers are seeing their businesses go bust because the mutual backscratching and steady business they earned from realtors by offering “good” appraisals has come to an end. As market prices return to being market determinant, heres to the end of gross excess.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 23:32 | posted in musings | no comments »
