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Sixth-straight drop: Average long-term US mortgage rate falls to 7.03%, lowest level since August

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:34 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Home loan financing costs eased again this week, as the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate slid to its lowest level in four months.The average rate on a 30-year mortgage dropped to 7.03% from 7.22% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.33%.The last time the average rate was lower was in early August, when it was at 6.96%.Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loan, also declined this week, with the average rate falling to 6.29% from 6.56% last week. A year ago, it averaged 5.67%, Freddie Mac said.This is the sixth straight weekly drop for rates, echoing a recent pullback in the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing loans. The yield, which in mid October surged to its highest level since 2007, has been falling on hopes that the Federal Reserve may finally be done raising interest rates in its bid to tame lower inflation.“Although these...

German budget crisis: Ruling coalition gives up on finalizing 2024 budget before year’s end

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:34 GMT

BERLIN — Germany’s ruling coalition will not manage to have a 2024 budget in place before the end of this year, a senior lawmaker from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) said Thursday.The admission by Bundestag member Katja Mast underscores the degree to which Germany’s ruling coalition is struggling to deal with the consequences of a top court ruling last month that sparked a severe political and fiscal crisis.The EU’s largest economy faces a prolonged fiscal standstill as the government looks for a way to plug an estimated €17 billion gap in the 2024 budget. Even if the three-party coalition manages to agree on a draft budget in the coming days, Mast said, there will not be enough time to get the required parliamentary approval before year’s end.“Although we have done everything we can on our side, the budget for 2024 can no longer be adopted in time this year,” Mast wrote in a text message to fellow SPD lawmakers ...

Trump attends New York civil fraud trial as accounting expert testifies for defense

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:34 GMT

(CNN) — Former President Donald Trump was in court for his New York civil fraud trial on Thursday where an accounting expert sought to bolster the defense argument that company valuations are a highly subjective process.Trump cast the trial as “corrupt” in brief comments to reporters before entering the courtroom, criticizing the judge presiding over the trial, Arthur Engoron, and New York attorney general Letitia James, who brought the case against him.“We did absolutely nothing wrong,” the former president said.Trump also praised defense accounting expert Eli Bartov, who testified Thursday. A professor of accounting at New York University’s Stern School of Business, Bartov said that accounting standards offer wide latitude for valuation calculation methods used on personal financial statements.The former president’s appearance in court comes one day after the fourth GOP presidential debate, which Trump skipped. The former president, who is leading the Republica...

5 steps to creating financial boundaries during the holidays

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:34 GMT

By Elizabeth Ayoola | NerdWalletMarketing ads, family functions and holiday gift-giving culture can make it feel impossible not to spend, or for some, overspend. According to a 2023 survey from NerdWallet, around half of Americans (52%) incurred credit card debt when shopping for gifts during the holidays last year, and almost a third (31%) of them still haven’t paid it off.While giving can be noble, consider setting boundaries when it comes to lending and spending money during the holidays.Step 1: Set 2024 money goalsIt can be difficult to rein in your spending during the holidays if you don’t have a reason. Begin the process of mapping out your financial goals for 2024 to help avoid shortsightedness while spending. For instance, if you want to make larger payments on your student loan or save for a down payment on a new car next year, overspending during the holidays could set you back.“Really be brutally honest about what your financial commitments for January and February [are],...

Massachusetts House sets March 5 special election date for 6th Worcester seat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:34 GMT

House lawmakers set March 5 as the special election date for a Central Massachusetts House seat last held by Sen. Peter Durant, who won his own Senate special election last month against a Gardner Democrat.Dudley Selectman John Marsi and Southbridge Town Councilor Dave Adams, both Republicans, said they are running for Durant’s old post, which covers Dudley, Southbridge, and parts of Charlton and Spencer.Adams said Thursday he is “ready to go.”“I’m ready. I’m absolutely ready to go. I’m already pushing out my information on all the policies and things that I’ve accomplished as a town councilor, as a veteran,” he said in a brief call with the Herald. “That’s a perfect date.”Marsi did not immediately return a request for comment.The special election will occur the same day as the Massachusetts presidential primaries. A special election state primary will be held Feb. 6 and candidates will have until Dec. 26 to submit nomination papers to local election official...

Surge in newcomers putting pressure on inflation via housing demand: BoC deputy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:34 GMT

WINDSOR, Ont. — A senior Bank of Canada official warns the recent surge in newcomers has propped up rent and home prices, adding pressure to inflation.In a speech in Windsor, Ont., deputy governor Toni Gravelle says that while the rise in immigration is helping grow the economy and the country’s workforce, it’s also fuelling inflation through housing demand.Gravelle told the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce that rent price inflation continues to surge in Canada even as it declines in the U.S., partly because home construction south of the border has historically adapted more quickly to shifts in population.The deputy governor is warning all levels of government to need to work together to reduce barriers to building more homes, or else rent and home prices could continue to climb.Canada has experienced strong population growth in the last couple of years as the federal government pursues more ambitious immigration targets and allows more non-permanent residents into the co...

Weekend need-to-know: Curtain rises on the Nutcracker ballet

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:34 GMT

The curtains will rise at the Four Seasons Centre for opening night of the Nutcracker by the National Ballet of Canada alongside more events to get you into the holiday season.If you are heading downtown this weekend, keep in mind there is a TTC closure and a GO Line closures.Nutcracker run beginsThe National Ballet of Canada officially opens the curtains for their three-week run of the Nutcracker Ballet. You can experience the magic of the Nutcracker and get into the holiday spirit with non-stop dancing and beautiful sets and costumes from the two-act ballet that was first performed in 1892 in Russia.Performances begin on Friday night and run until Dec. 31 at the Four Seasons Centre for Performing Arts and tickets are still available for the multiple shows.Fleurs de Villes NOËL in YorkvilleCatch a glimpse of some gorgeous festive flowers at Fleurs de Villes NOËL holiday show in Yorkville. The self-guided trail with 30 floral installations made including a Holiday Sleigh and a skati...

California’s nonpartisan legislative analyst says state faces record $68 billion budget deficit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:34 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California is facing a $68 billion budget deficit, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office said Thursday.Most of the deficit comes from lower than expected tax revenues this year, the office said.California delayed its tax filing deadline to November this year because a series of damaging storms. That forced Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to come up with a spending plan without knowing how much money the state would have.The Legislative Analyst’s Office says revenues for the 2022-23 budget year ended up $26 billion below previous estimates. The office says the state could cut spending on education and take money from the state’s savings account to help balance the budget.The state’s budget topped $300 billion last year.The projected $68 billion deficit is a record in terms of a dollar figure. But the state has seen deficits that represent a larger share of the budget in the past.It’s the second year in a row tax collections in the nation’s most populous ...

HIV diagnoses hit 10-year high in Montreal, cases more than double between 2021-22

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:34 GMT

MONTREAL — Public health officials say they recorded in 2022 the highest number of new HIV diagnoses in 10 years in the city of Montreal and its on-island suburbs.Data shared last week shows the number of new reported HIV cases more than doubled between 2021 and 2022, to 310 from 141.Montreal public health says the increase is possibly due, in part, to a catch-up in testing after the pandemic, when the number of HIV diagnoses fell.The agency says the rise could also be tied to an increase in immigrants to the city from countries where the virus is endemic.The number of new reported cases in that population jumped 394 per cent — to 158 from 32 — between 2021 and 2022.Montreal public health says the city of Montreal and its on-island suburbs accounted for 74 per cent of Quebec’s HIV diagnoses in 2022, up from a usual proportion of around 60 per cent.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 7, 2023.The Canadian Press

CBC head Catherine Tait summoned to committee over job cuts, executive bonuses

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:34 GMT

MPs are calling CBC head Catherine Tait to testify about her announcement the public broadcaster would cut 10 per cent of its workforce while not ruling out bonuses for executives.The House of Commons Heritage Committee unanimously agreed today to have the president of the public broadcaster address the cuts and potential bonuses. The committee summoned Tait to appear at its first meeting in the new year following the holiday recess, but a date has yet to be set. Members also agreed to report to the House that given the job cuts it would be inappropriate of the CBC to grant bonuses to executive members. Because the public broadcaster is independent, members of Parliament cannot decide how CBC and its French-language service spend their money. CBC and Radio-Canada said Monday they plan to cut 600 jobs and not fill 200 vacancies over the next year as the public broadcaster grapples with a $125-million shortfall. A spokesperson for Tait didn’t immediately...