| Analysts worry that mortgage troubles could spread to auto loans
DETROIT (AP) Rising delinquency rates on car and truck loans have some industry analysts concerned that subprime mortgage troubles could spill into the automotive finance business. In a note to investors Monday, Lehman Brothers analyst Brian Johnson said his analysis of auto loan-backed securities sold by Ford Motor Credit Co. and GMAC Financial Services showed some higher delinquency rates for October and September compared with recent years. "As unemployment remains low, this deterioration in the auto ABS credit conditions may be evidence of a likely spill over of the mortgage woes onto the auto credit world," Johnson wrote. Spokeswomen for both Ford Motor Credit and GMAC said they experienced slight increases in delinquencies in the third quarter, but those were unrelated to the subprime mortgage problems.
Ara H. From Canada - Part 1
This week on the programme with Jason Tan, meet Ara Hampartsoumian (AH), Business Development Director with advertising agency BBH in the Asia Pacific. Over the next two weeks, find out about this Canadian�s Armenian heritage, his travels around the globe, and his experiences in Singapore. Upon meeting Ara, he was quick to point out his heritage. AH: Well, I�m actually Armenian, and very proud of it. There�s actually a lot of Armenian history here in Singapore, I�m not sure if many people know about that. But, I was born and raised in Canada so I�m speaking French as well. Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Ara tells me more about his time in Canada. AH: My parents migrated to Canada in 1962, I was born in 1968. So I lived there most of my life until I was about 23 years old when I finally decided that I�d leave the nest and move on and kind of made my way to the United States.
How To Stand Out from the Herd
After Akshay Mansukhani scored a 710 on his GMAT, he knew he could retake it and get a 750 and climb to the 99th percentile. But in order to score a spot at Wharton (which last year had a median GMAT score of 710), the native of India took the advice of a professor he had while a student at Wharton's undergrad program and instead chose to spend his time perfecting the essay portion of his application. "The way the Indian education system is set up, grades mean everything," says Mansukhani who graduated in 2004 and now works as an investment banker at UBS (NYSE:UBS - News) in New York. "But applying to business school is like building a house. Your scores are only one pillar -- if it doesn't have the other pillars it doesn't stand up properly." .
Subprime Crisis Hit Investment Banks Hard in Third Quarter, but Business Models Remain Sound, Says BCG
Leading investment banks felt the effects of the subprime crisis in the third quarter and should take steps to strengthen their risk management strategies and practices, according to The Boston Consulting Group's latest quarterly Investment Banking and Capital Markets report. .
Big bank gives thanks
When executives at the Iselin headquarters of Chase Home Lending count their blessings on Thanksgiving, they could include the collapse of the subprime market. The financial debacle is helping the mortgage-lending division of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other large bank lenders gain market share. Chase Home Lending increased third-quarter originations by 35 percent to $39.2 billion, compared with the year-earlier period. Tom Kelly, a senior vice president at Chase, cites the subprime meltdown, which has caused the demise of more than 100 mortgage companies, for this year's growth spurt. "There is more opportunity to make loans because other people aren't," he said in a recent interview. Chase's U.S. market share of residential mortgages and home-equity loans climbed to 9 percent from 5.7 percent over the past year, the largest increase of any of the top 10 lenders, according to statistics from Inside Mortgage Finance, a trade publication.
University Of Florida Going Green For Big Game Against Seminoles
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Gators are changing their trademark orange and blue colors to green this weekend as they face off against the Seminoles. The University of Florida is trying to become the first U.S. university to try to counteract the greenhouse gases created by a single college football game. The act doesn't involve any changes at the stadium. The school is arranging for about 18 acres in rural North Florida to be set aside as a pine plantation for 10 years. The trees will absorb an amount of greenhouse gases equivalent to the amount the school estimates will be produced by the 88,000 fans heading to the game. School officials say the game will produce an estimated 1,750 metric tons of carbon dioxide. Car emissions will be the major contributor.
Banking worries drop Dow
Wall Street resumed its slide Monday as investors absorbed a gloomy outlook for the banking sector, as well as bleak news about housing. The major stock market indexes each fell more than 1.5 percent, with the Dow Jones industrial average giving up 218 points. Concerns about the banking sector dominated the session. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s downgrade of large banks, and its estimate that Citigroup Inc. would have to write down $15 billion over the next two quarters due to its exposure to risky debt, unnerved Wall Street. Other sectors suffered big hits during the session, including homebuilders and airlines. The latest concerns about the housing sector arose after a downcast survey from the National Association of Homebuilders and a lowered forecast from home-improvement retailer Lowe's Cos.
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