- DSNews - https://dsnews.com -

DS News Webcast: Wednesday 2/17/2016

First mortgage default rates started the new year exactly where they left the old one, according to the latest S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices released Tuesday. According to the report, first mortgage and auto loan default rates were unchanged for January, with default rates of zero point 84 percent and 1 point 04 percent, respectively.

Tuesday’s report answers recent speculation about whether national default rates would remain as steady as they were in Q4 of 2015. Last year was up-and-down for default rates, though Q4 finished with three consecutive months of slight increases. David Blitzer, Managing Director & Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, cautioned at year’s end that a quarter does not a trend make and said that there were, quote, no seasonal patterns or other concerns that stand out, close quote, about Q4’s numbers.

In his first public speech since being named president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis in November 2015, Neel Kashkari said on Friday that Congress passed Dodd-Frank too quickly and that too big to fail is still alive and well more than seven years after the financial crisis. Kashkari said, quote, While significant progress has been made to strengthen our financial system, I believe the Act did not go far enough. I believe the biggest banks are still too big to fail and continue to pose a significant, ongoing risk to our economy. Close quote