An investment banking firm says that odds are increasing that Jackson Hewitt will enter bankruptcy after the end of this year’s tax season.

Stephens believes that it unlikely that JTX will be able to repay its debts. The tax preparation chain ended the quarter with $362.3 million in outstanding borrowings. A payment of $30 (more…)

The FDIC established a new rule that will make it much harder to get a conventional loan without putting twenty percent down.

Dodd-Frank established an expectation that securitizers will have to retain more risk in home mortgages that they sell, providing that some loans could be exempted if they met a (more…)

Local bank, waiting regulatory approval for a sale, misses its TARP payment: Crescent State Bank (CRFN) missed its scheduled TARP payment that was due this week. Crescent says that it wants to preserve its capital. This is an interest moment for Crescent. The North Carolina Bank reached an agreement with Piedmont Community Bank Investors to sell a majority stake (more…)

The Federal Reserve denied the request by Bank of America to increase their dividend. B of A proposed to pay common shareholders seven cents per share per quarter.

Shareholders generally like dividends. My dad went to Wharton and he often took time, when he wasn’t fixing his cars, to talk about investing. He liked dividends. He felt that you could place some trust in a company that could pay a dividend. In fact, one of the first things I (more…)

The new Qualified Residential Mortgage rule, outlined in the Dodd-Frank bill, creates a scenario that will make many lenders want to abandon their mortgage businesses. The new rule is another example of a good intention that creates unexpected problems.

Dodd-Frank sought to create a means of forcing lenders to keep some skin in the game by (more…)