Headlines

In an important signpost of recovery, foreclosure activity in the United States has fallen to levels not seen since before the financial crisis began, according to a report issued by RealtyTrac Thursday.

Peter Hayes, a former lender at TARP recipient Wilmington Trust of Delaware, was charged in a seven count indictment in connection with an alleged bank fraud scheme in which he and others benefited at the expense of the bank.

Bank of America reported Wednesday a nearly 43 percent decline in second-quarter profits compared to last year thanks to a significant litigation charge. BofA posted second-quarter net income of $2.3 billion on revenue of $22.0 billion. A year ago, the megabank reported bringing $4.0 billion

The Chair of the Federal Reserve Board Janet Yellen deliver her semi-annual Monetary Policy Report and completed her second day of testimony Wednesday, this time testifying before the House Committee on Financial Services.

A year-and-a-half-long legal case between the U.S. Department of Justice and Standard & Poor’s Rating Services could be over soon. According to the Wall Street Journal, S&P is preparing to resume talks with the DOJ in an effort to settle a $5 billion lawsuit filed by the government in February 2013.

In a conference call with analysts following the release of its second quarter earnings report Tuesday, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon took the time to single out Federal Housing Administration (FHA) backed lending as a source of risk for the Megabank.

With ongoing home price gains continuing to trend downward, one in five markets are poised for depreciation over the next year, according to one analytics firm.

A report released Tuesday by S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian showed a decline in default rates among five of the largest cities in the nation to historically low levels.

Yellen gave her semi-annual Monetary Policy Report and made the case that while the economy has seen improvement the economic recovery is still too fragile to deviate from the present course of Fed policy.

Second-quarter profits at JPMorgan Chase dipped nearly 8 percent year-over-year as the bank continued to work with a diminished mortgage market. JPMorgan's latest earnings report, released Tuesday, shows the megabank earned $6.0 billion in profits over the latest three months, putting its performance somewhere between the $5.3 billion reported in the first quarter and $6.5 billion a year ago.