Mike McCulloch's (mikemcculloch) Blog

Morgan Stanley's stock price plunged again Thursday. John Mack, the No. 2 U.S. investment bank's chief executive, has reached out to China's Citic Group overnight about a possible investment, according to a person familiar with the talks. Morgan Stanley is also considering a combination with reta...

  The Federal Reserve has backstopped the purchase of Bear Stearns to the tune of $29 billion.  It will loan $85 billion to insurer AIG. It's letting banks borrow up to $150 billion using risky mortgage-backed securities as collateral. And it's letting investment banks, which it doesn't regulate,...

I good friend of mine has made a fortune in real estate, in high-flying markets and has protected himself against losses in housing declines, reminds me every Easter (his favorite holiday , I might add) , "Don't put all your eggs in one basket! " when it comes to real estate; especially here in P...

Despite the the bailout of Freddie  and Fannie   and Lehman's questionable survival,  the S&P 500 Financials Sector is still up over 20% since hitting a low in mid-July   an ETF that tracks the financial sector).  Will the Financials stay above their July ...

 "We're looking at the highest wholesale prices ever for a huge swath of the country," he said. "People understand that regardless what happens with Ike, it's going to shut down the biggest refining cluster for a period of five, six, seven days." The wholesale price of gasoline ranged from $4 to ...

Lehman is down more than 94% from its all-time high just months ago. The stock price unraveled in early trading Thursday after analyst reports cast doubt that the nation's fourth-largest investment bank can survive. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s rescue plan is getting a dismal reception from Wa...

Bond prices rose as stocks pulled back early today on Wall Stree.  Not always a good thing. Unless you are a short of the markets. Or if you are planning on locking a 30-year fixed or 15 year fixed mortgage (or an adjustable rate mortgage.) Bonds were strong as he yield on the benchmark 10-year T...

Today on Wall Street , stocks fall, oil falls, rates fall stocks retreated Thursday as investors dumped shares of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and other financial names over worries it is becoming harder for them shore up their balance sheets. Oil prices are fallin as well against a strong dolla...

 in the second quarter as housing markets weakened, particularly in California and Florida, and more borrowers defaulted on so-called prime loans. The rate of U.S. home mortgages overdue or in foreclosure rose again Among mortgages on one- to four-family homes, 9.16% were at least a month overdue...

Smarter Agent, a developer of location-specific real estate searches, has teamed with RealEstate.com and other listings providers throughout the country to provide mobile phone users with access to a national database of real estate listings through an application called "Homes for Sale". The app...