| CORRECTED: Growing number of US states mull mortgage refinance
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A growing number of state housing agencies are developing or considering issuing bonds to assist subprime mortgage holders to refinance their obligations at fixed rates, officials at housing agencies said on Tuesday. The Ohio Housing Finance Agency intends to launch a refinance program on April 2 to accept applications from lenders. That program would be funded by taxable bonds issued probably later that same month in an amount likely around $100 million, said Bob Connell, director of debt management for the agency. The aim is to allow low- to moderate-income mortgage holders who have not entered the foreclosure process to refinance their mortgages at a fixed rate likely around 6.75 percent, Connell said. A U.S. Treasury official said the tax code places limits on such issuances through a series of "volume cap" rules.
Cedar Shopping Centers Announces Joint Venture
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., April 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cedar Shopping Centers, Inc. (NYSE: CDR) , today announced that it has entered into an agreement to form a joint venture with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Homburg Invest Inc., a public Canadian real estate corporation listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: HII.A and HII.B) and Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange (AEX: HII) , with respect to four shopping centers presently owned and managed by Cedar and five properties announced in December 2006 to be acquired shortly. Richard Homburg, a director of Cedar Shopping Centers, Inc. since 1998, is Chairman and CEO of Homburg Invest. Cedar will acquire a 20% interest in the joint venture; and Homburg Invest Inc., through a wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, will acquire the remaining 80% interest.
Merger talk helps
Stocks on Thursday closed modestly higher for a second day, as more comforting words by players in the stressed mortgage market offset a warning about subprime mortgages by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.
Investment bank Bear Stearns, the biggest underwriter of mortgage-backed bonds, posted an 8 percent increase in quarterly profit and said its exposure to mortgage defaults was "well hedged."
Greenspan, in a speech in Florida, said losses in subprime mortgages could spread to other parts of the economy if home prices decline further.
Merger-and-acquisition news helped bolster share prices, including a fresh bid for CBOT Holdings, parent of the Chicago Board of Trade, and news that Citigroup, a component of the Dow Jones industrial average, was proceeding with a takeover of a Japanese broker, Nikko Cordial.
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