| US Stock-Index Futures Rise; Citigroup and Qualcomm Advance
March 19 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures rose on speculation last week's decline was overdone. Citigroup Inc., the biggest U.S. bank, and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, gained in Europe. Qualcomm Inc. advanced in Germany after the world's second- largest maker of mobile-phone chips said it agreed to settle patent claims with Broadcom Corp. BEA Systems Inc. rose after UBS AG recommended buying shares of the software maker. Financial firms and retailers led stocks lower last week as rising mortgage defaults stoked concern the home-loan crisis will spread. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index has lost 2.2 percent this year, plunging the most in four years on Feb. 27 as a sell-off in China helped spark a global rout. ``Financial and retail companies had a rough ride last week and are starting to look a bit oversold,'' said Simon Carter, head of North American equities at Aegon Asset Management in Edinburgh, where he helps to oversee $3 billion.
Securities Fraud Attorney Urges Elderly Investors to Beware ...
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Securities Fraud Attorney Mark Tepper who represents investors deceived by abusive broker sales practices, says shareholders should be wary of brokers who sell financial products known as Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (CMOs), some of which are volatile and unsuitable for unsuspecting investors. AAA ratings or government guarantees do not protect these securities against interest rate risk. Tepper, a former New York Assistant Attorney General and Chief Trial Counsel at the Bureau of Investor Protection and Securities, representing the interests of investors in criminal and civil actions over 30 years of practicing law, has filed a claim in arbitration before the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). The claim, on behalf of a Davie, Florida widow whose investment portfolio, drawn from her late husband's life insurance, was bankrupt shortly after it was sold to her, describes the portfolio as "toxic waste." "The claim names five respondents including now defunct brokerage firm SAMCO Financial Services," Tepper said.
Mortgage rates creep up this week
WASHINGTON - Mortgage rates around the country crept up this week, although rates on 30-year mortgages still hovered close to their low for the year. That was up slightly from 6.16 percent last week. Even with the uptick, it was near the low for this year of 6.14 percent, set during the first two weeks of March. "Mortgage rates have remained within a narrow band of 0.1 percentage points over every week in March," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac‘s chief economist. "This relative stability is due to mixed economic data releases as to how strong the economy is and whether future inflation will recede," he explained. Five-year adjustable rate mortgages averaged 5.92 percent, compared with 5.88 percent last week. One-year adjustable mortgages edged up to 5.44 percent this week from, 5.43 percent last week.
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