Author: Press Room

Our goal here at Credible Operations, Inc., NMLS Number 1681276, referred to as “Credible” below, is to give you the tools and confidence you need to improve your finances. Although we do promote products from our partner lenders who compensate us for our services, all opinions are our own. Based on data compiled by Credible, mortgage rates for home purchases have risen for two key terms, remained stable for one term, and fallen for another term since yesterday. Rates last updated on April 6, 2023. These rates are based on the assumptions shown here. Actual rates may vary. Credible, a…

Bank collapse background If you’ve been following the banking crisis that’s unfolded over the last month, there’s a good chance you’ve heard about “unrealized losses.” An unrealized loss is a decline in the price of a security that you haven’t sold. For banks, unrealized losses can eat into the amount of liquidity that they have to cover potential withdrawals. Unrealized losses got a lot of publicity in the 2023 banking crisis. Many of the banks that failed, such as Silicon Valley Bank (OTC:SIVBQ), were stuck with large amounts of unrealized losses that left them incapable of handling withdrawal requests. The…

Italian officials are racing to review a deal to sell the country’s largest refinery after the US government privately raised concerns about the sale of the Russian-owned site to a little-known fund in Cyprus.Russia’s Lukoil agreed in January to sell its Sicilian ISAB refinery to GOI Energy, a newly established branch of the Cypriot private equity group Argus. The €1.5bn deal, which overtook a competing offer from US-based Crossbridge Energy Partners and oil trader Vitol, also involves commodity trader Trafigura. Trafigura will provide working capital and crude oil to the facility, and market the refined fuels its produces.The transaction was…

A conservative Texas judge on Friday put a dent in the blue wall of abortion rights protections, issuing an order that could suspend approval of a drug used in medication abortions by women across the country – including in states with robust protections in place. The decision from District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk could represent the biggest blow to abortion rights in the US since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer. That ruling upended the 2022 midterm elections, prompting a backlash that helped Democrats outperform expectations at almost every level of government. Kacsmaryk paused his ruling for…

Even after oil prices surged this past week following a surprise OPEC production cut, oil traders don’t seem convinced prices will keep rising. In fact, oil futures seem to expect prices to retreat after the near-term price shock. While the nearest-term Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, were up 6.6%, to $85.05 per barrel, on the week through Thursday, futures expiring in December 2023 rose 4.6%, to $81.50. The fact that December futures are trading at lower levels than today’s prices looks bearish: Why buy oil stocks if oil prices will fall by year end? But the current trading pattern,…

Assured Guaranty Ltd. stock is up 4% in premarket trade Wednesday after the credit product provider to the financial sector said it’s creating the world’s fifth largest asset management business that handles collateralized loan obligations in a transaction with Sound Point Capital Management. Assured Guaranty AGO, +1.51% said the deal that will immediately add to its earnings per share and return on equity and will result in 30% ownership of the combined entity in exchange for 100% of its equity in Assured Investment Management LLC (AssuredIM). Sound Point Capital Management will acquire AssuredIM, which has $15.2 billion in assets under…

Yamundow Camara grew up in Gambia, West Africa, in a house without electricity and running water. Now she runs a bustling rental-real-estate business in the U.S., where she owns more than $2 million in property, including a “dream house” for her growing family in an Atlanta suburb.  In less than three years of investing, she became a millionaire with multiple sources of income. During most of that time, she was a visa holder. Last year, she became a permanent resident. Camara, 34, is a buy-and-hold investor who rehabs distressed properties and rents them out. Some of her tenants are 12-month lease…

The Internal Revenue Service is planning a hiring spree for top-tier talent as it uses $80 billion to upgrade the tax agency’s systems and to scrutinize a greater number of the more complicated returns that are filed by corporations and wealthy taxpayers.Now it has to convince people to come aboard at the IRS instead of taking potentially more lucrative work in the private sector. And it has to make that recruiting pitch in the midst of an accountant shortage, and knowing that the prospect of working for the taxman in a politically charged moment may turn off some candidates. On…

In this environment of high inflation and uncertainty about the banking sector’s financial health, market participants should scrutinize U.S. leveraged finance markets carefully. This asset class, comprised of leveraged loans and high-yield bonds, is very sensitive to rising interest rates and current uncertainty about the direction of the banking sector. In 2022, leveraged loan issuance declined and default rates rose given rising interest rate pressures. Recent bank turmoil influenced leveraged loan underwriting volume to be at it lowest level since 2016. U.S. Leveraged Markets Have Grown Significantly According to Eric Rosenthal, Senior Director of Leveraged Finance at FitchRatings, the “leveraged…

By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) – A closely watched U.S. inflation report next week could help settle one of Wall Street’s most pressing questions: whether the market has correctly pegged the near-term trajectory for interest rates. Following last month’s banking crisis, investors have become more convinced the Federal Reserve will cut rates in the second half to ward off an economic downturn. Such bets have pushed bond yields lower, supporting the giant tech and growth stocks that hold sway over broad equity indexes. The has gained 6.9% so far in 2023. But the central bank’s more restrictive rate outlook…