No More Leasing Vehicles

GM, Chrysler To Stop Leasing Vehicles

The financial arms of Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corp. are getting out of the business of leasing vehicles as credit tightens and resale prices for gas-quaffing trucks fall, according to company executives and independent sources. The move, effective Aug. 1, could spark a backlash among dealers and consumers. In Canada, an estimated 43% of drivers lease their vehicles, double the U.S. rate of 20%. Chrysler told dealers in Canada and the United States that Chrysler Financial will stop offering financing for vehicle leases, steering buyers into low-interest loans to buy the vehicle outright, sources said. Dealers wanting to offer the leasing option would have to find their own source of financing, Chrysler said.

STOP The Bail Outs

Ron Paul On The Housing Bill

No Sign Of Recovery In Credit Crisis

IMF Sees No Sign Of Recovery

Global financial markets remain fragile and the danger of an economic fallout has increased a year after the credit crunch began, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday. The IMF's latest global financial stability report said world markets are still under strain from the US housing crisis while the twin risks of rising inflationary pressures and the prospect of recession are making life tough for central bankers as regards setting monetary policy. Its downbeat assessment came as the Treasury prepared to launch a report by Sir James Crosby, the former chief executive of HBOS, into ways of reviving Britain's mortgage market. It emerged last night that he will reject the idea of creating a UK version of Fannie Mae, the government-backed body that underwrites a large chunk of US home loans.

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Voluntary Foreclosure

America's House Price Time Bomb
With the American housing market in its worst crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, President Bush is expected to sign into law a massive new government intervention designed to slow the slide. The intervention would come as a little known quirk of US law threatens to drive down house prices even faster. Faced with seemingly never-ending falls in the value of their properties, some American home-owners are taking radical action; they are choosing to walk away from homes and their mortgages.

We Are Not Alone

Credit Crisis Spreads To Wealthier

Credit Crisis Spreads To Wealthier
The US financial crisis is spreading from subprime borrowers, with evidence mounting that more affluent people are failing to pay mortgages and credit card balances. Growing concerns over the financial health of richer borrowers are prompting banks and card issuers to tighten lending practices in moves that could further damp consumer confidence.

Consumer Defaults Rise

American Express Profit Falls
American Express Co., the biggest U.S. credit-card company by purchases, withdrew its 2008 earnings forecast after second-quarter profit fell 37 percent on worse-than-expected consumer defaults. The shares slumped 11 percent in extended trading. Profit from continuing operations declined to $655 million, or 56 cents a share, from $1.04 billion, or 86 cents a year earlier, the company said today in a statement. The average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was 82 cents. American Express said it added $600 million before taxes to reserves for U.S. loan losses.

I.O.U.S.A.