| Privacy Advocate Targets Massachusetts Web Site
A privacy advocate Friday threatened to publicly post on her Web site the names of prominent individuals in Massachusetts whose Social Security numbers and other personal data she was able to pull from public records posted on the commonwealth secretary of state's Web site. In addition, Betty "B.J." Ostergren said detailed instructions will be provided on her site telling others how to access the data from the site. Ostergren, a Virginia-based privacy advocate, runs a Web site called The Virginia Watchdog, which she uses to draw attention to -- and put pressure on -- county and state government officials who post unredacted public records online. The threat to publicize the information stems from the continued refusal by Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin to break links to the records, despite being told they pose a potential risk to privacy, Ostergren said.
Misplaced Fears for Regional Banks?
The good news is the regional banks followed by Standard & Poor's are well-insulated from the subprime lending market crisis. The question is: How exposed is this group to "Alt-A" mortgages, which cover the large middle ground between subprime and prime loans? Investors are worried about regional bank exposure to Alt-A mortgages, given M&T Bank's (MTB; ranked 3 STARS, hold) profit warning on Mar. 30. The bank indicated the market for the Alt-A loans that it packages and securitizes has cooled off, leading to lower prices and lower mark-to-market prices for the loans that aren't sold. M&T Bank says it's contractually liable to buy back nonperforming Alt-A mortgages. The bank also warned that deposit costs would be higher than expected, leading to further net interest margin compression.
Don't Be Afraid Of Getting A Mortgage Online
No matter what your credit history is, or what your circumstances are, the Internet has made the home loan process much easier. This article will outline a five-point plan to assist you in your pursuit of financing online: Step 1: Don't be afraid to go shopping. Discussing personal mistakes in life can paralyze us with fear, namely, getting into the "bad credit" issues. But getting into this "stuff' is completely unnecessary in the preliminary phase of shopping for a loan, beyond the basic information provided in an online short-form. In other words, you don't really have to talk about the nitty-gritty details, until after a loan offer has been presented to you. So don't fret about it at first. Because we're on the subject, if you are a consumer with credit history issues, let me briefly take this opportunity to state the obvious: .
WAMU ABOUT TO SNEEZE AND CATCH A COLD
Cramer said that there's "no global economic slowdown." By contrast, Cramer also said, "the world is growing too fast for the Fed's comfort when it comes to inflation. In my honest opinion Cramers statements are idiotically made by the currently biggest media mouthpiece that was ever hired to pump and dump stocks for Wall Street in the history of stock fraud! If the world is growing too fast and the Fed is worried by inflation that would mean a rise in interest rates too sooner than later. Why would it be too sooner? Because right now the housing market has already been deflated by at least 10% over the past year and if that is not enough to signal the beginning of a recession, wipe out $1.4 trillion of home equity across 300 million homes in America and it averages about 3,333.33 per household in lost wealth.
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