Online financial news

President Barack Obama has invited small business owners to the White House to help persuade Congress to pass legislation to help them grow.

The president is pushing a legislative package for small businesses, including giving them better access to loans and tax credits and assistance in refinancing mortgages.

Obama planned to promote his proposals in a speech Tuesday to a group of small business owners in the Rose Garden.

In prepared remarks the president says government can’t create jobs but can “create the conditions for small businesses to grow and thrive and hire new workers.”

He says small business owners should have easier access to capital and proposes eliminating the capital gains tax for investments in small businesses.

At a time when the new UK government is determined to get a grasp of the UK budget deficit and at least try and steady the UK economy it seems as though the UK economy is more and more at the beck and call of overseas trading partners. While problems in the Far East will have an impact on worldwide trade, for every country in the world, it is the problems within Europe which are causing most concern amongst UK investors.

Even though the UK has refused to take on board the Euro it is still a major part of the European Union and Europe is a very important trading partner for UK businesses. A tightening of the debt markets within Europe and massive public-sector spending cuts will have a major impact on economic activity in the short to medium term. This comes at a time when the UK economy would appear, in the eyes of some at least, to be getting back on its feet after a very difficult period.

As we saw with the problems in Greece, with the budget deficit, a stone thrown into the European Union lake can cause ripples across the whole area.

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New borrowers admitted to the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) fell in April to their lowest level since the program began, while the number of homeowners rejected for permanent assistance continued to climb. 

Only 47,000 homeowners were approved for new trial loan modifications in April, the fewest since May 2009, two months after the program was established. By contrast, over 122,000 ongoing trial modifications were cancelled after it was determined the homeowners could not qualify for permanent status.   New admissions to the program, which to date has provided at least temporary mortgage relief to 1.2 million homeowners, have tapered off in recent months after rising steeply through last summer and fall. Meanwhile, efforts have increased to clear out a backlog of homeowners with trial loan modifications who have been waiting to be approved or rejected for permanent modifications. 

Rejections nearly equal permanent modifications

  Over the past two months, 189,000 homeowners originally admitted to the program have been rejected for permanent loan modifications, compared to less than 89,000 in the period from March 2009 to February 2010. The n Read more…

The UK government has today announced wide sweeping reforms of the UK finance arena to end what it describes as “unfair bank charges” and “excessive interest rates on credit cards”. Thankfully the government has given the Office of Fair Trading and other regulators increased powers to ban excessive charges on credit cards as well as unfair bank charges.

The government has also introduced a seven day cooling off period for those taking out store cards as well as more disclosure for those looking for a new credit card. At the moment it seems as though the coalition government has picked up the baton originally held by Gordon Brown and his Labour team but as ever the proof will be in the pudding with regards to added protection for UK consumers.

There is no doubt that the UK government has started well in what are very difficult and very demanding times. There are high hopes that David Cameron will follow through on many of his pledges with regards to additional consumer protection in many areas of the economy.

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Buy a scooter… don’t be afraid

While I’m fully aware that a lot of people think driving a scooter is wimpy or dorky or what have you, I’ll also assume those people entirely too concerned with what others think.  That said, let’s give ‘em the benefit of the doubt by supposing their ability to think outside the box has been beaten out of them by our consumerism based culture obsessed with constant advertising.

Despite numerous benefits and few draw backs – unless you’re a college student – owning a scooter is relatively uncommon in most parts of the United States – not so in other parts of the world.  When considering the pro et contra, buying a scooter can stack up quickly into an economically wise purchase.

Scooters, moped, and motorcycles

In the interest of this article, scooters are synonymous with mopeds and defined as follows:  a 2-wheeled vehicle with a saddlelike seat mounted on the footboard and being propelled by a motor – and for the purpose of economy let’s focus specifically, but not entirely, on scooters of the 50cc motor variety (to be further explained later in the article.)

A scooter ? 50cc and a motorcycle ? 51

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Construction of new homes rose more than expected in April but new building permits fell sharply, signaling the industry’s rebound could be short-lived.

The results show builders ramped up to meet demand from buyers seeking to take advantage of federal tax incentives, but are now scaling back their plans.

Building permits, a gauge of future activity, sank 11.5 percent to an annual rate of 606,000, the lowest since October 2009, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Analysts were expecting a slight dip to a rate of 680,000.

Home sales have rebounded this year. They were helped by low mortgage rates and two government tax credits — $8,000 for new buyers and $6,500 for current owners who buy and move into another property. Read more…