In The News...

Bank of America and a number of US states reached an $8.4 billion accord under which the banking giant will modify troubled mortgages and enable nearly 400,000 Countrywide Financial Corp. clients to keep their homes.

The Fed is pumping more liquidity into the system this morning doubling its Term Auction Facility (TAF) to $900 billion from $450 and will begin paying interest on the required reserves of the banks as was allowed by the bailout bill.

Wells Fargo has agreed to purchase Wachovia Corp. in a deal worth $15.1 billion. That has set up a legal battle with Citigroup Inc., which had previously agreed to purchase Wachovia's retail bank, corporate and investment bank and wealth management businesses - but not its brokerage or asset management firm - for just over $2 billion. Citigroup says Wachovia violated the terms of its deal by entering into one with Wells Fargo, and filed a lawsuit to block the Wells Fargo offer.

The National Association for Business Economics, or NABE, has stated today that 69% of economists surveyed think that the economy has started or will enter a recession this year. That is up from the 59% from a survey in May. The survey was taken before President Bush signed the $700 billion financial bailout into law on Friday shortly after Congress completed action.

Brought to you, courtesy of The Mortgage Market Guide