A measure of leading U.S. economic indicators rose again in December, advancing for a fourth straight month as most components improved. The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index, which gauges the near-term economic outlook based on a variety of indicators, increased 0.5 percent in December to 121.1, the group reported Friday. The increase fell between November's gain of 0.4 percent and October's larger 0.6 percent improvement.
Despite recently seeing their strongest year in more than half a decade, housing starts are still running below their long-term average of about 1.5 million annually—and that situation isn't expected to normalize for at least another few years, if economists' forecasts are right. At the same time, other indicators look good: job growth remained strong to finish out 2014, and consumer confidence is slowly coming up as Americans express more optimism in their financial prospects
A group of mortgage bond investors has sent Ocwen Financial Corp. a notice of non-performance in what could be the precursor toward a future lawsuit, according to a media report. Citing an unnamed source, Reuters reported Friday afternoon that a number of major investors, including BlackRock, MetLife, and Pimco, filed a formal notice to Ocwen accusing the servicer of failing to properly collect payments on $82 billions worth of home loans.