Shares of the following companies may have unusual moves in U.S. trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and prices are as of 7:45 a.m. in New York.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) : HTC Corp. lost a patent-infringement claim against the world’s largest technology company at the U.S. International Trade Commission, the first of the Taiwanese handset maker’s cases targeting the iPhone.

Ciena Corp. (CIEN) dropped 8.8 percent to $ 15.50. The maker of network gear said first-quarter revenue was about $ 415 million, below the average analyst estimate of $ 447.7 million.

Codexis Inc. (CDXS) : Alan Shaw resigned as president and chief executive officer of the company, which makes enzymes used in producing drugs. He will continue to serve as an adviser to the board. The b…………… continues on Bloomberg

Baby Boomers are more likely than younger generations to count on their family being able to use their home’s equity as income in the event that they passed away unexpectedly, according to a MetLife Mature Market Institute survey, “Multi-Generational Views on Family Financial Obligations.”

All three generations, including Gen Xers and Gen Yers, believe they have responsibility and obligation to: save enough for retirement to avoid having to ask family members for assistance; have a parent live with them if they need to do so due to a major health or financial issue; and make sure a spouse would have enough money if a financial provider dies suddenly, among others.

While just 31% of Gen Xers and less than one in five Gen Yers report their family could use the equity in their homes should they pass away sooner than expected, 41% of Baby Boomers see their home’s value as a source of income.

Incidentally, Baby Boomers are more likely than the two following generations to believe that life insurance should provide for surviving spouses, with 82% of having policies for their spouse, compared to 66% of…………… continues on Reverse Mortgage Daily

TUCSON – Imagine a mortgage that pays you money. You get to do what you want with the cash and the government picks-up any shortfall.

It’s called the Reverse Mortgage. People disagree if they are a good idea but reverse mortgages are paying off for more and more seniors.

Maryannette Bednar revved-up a reverse mortgage and tapped a chunk of cash, essentially a loan from a mortgage company, using the equity in her Tucson home.

“And I spent all the money rather quickly on things that I wanted like ‘wheeee!”, she explains with a laugh. “Didn’t go around the world with it, but it allowed me to do a lot of the things I wanted to do.”

This retired educator bought a travel trailer and says she’s having a blast while she’s still young enough to do it.

“I’m not leaving my house to anyone. My nephews are pretty well set. I don’t have any children, and so I figure I might as well take all the value out of my house and use it for me.”

Financial experts like Margo Garza with Take Charge America, a consumer credit counseling service, say reverse mortgages can make a lot of sense.

“The retirement community has homes that are paid for and so you have dead equity not doing anything for them, and they’re tapping into that resource.”

With reverse mortgages you can get a lump sum from your home’s equity or get monthly payments……………. continues on KVOA Tucson News

How much is $ 1 trillion?

Economists calculate that the decline in home prices has cost American homeowners approximately $ 7 trillion in home equity. That number is the equivalent of 28 million homes losing $ 250,000 in value each!

Compounding this problem is the fact that the inventory of homes available for sale remains high and there is potential for a significant volume of “shadow inventory” to hit the market. Real estate is a supply and demand game, so what steps must policy makers take to prevent the loss of additional trillions in home equity?

The good news is that the abundant supply of homes available for sale presents opportunities for first-time homebuyers and “move-up” buyers as affordability is at an all-time high. Many are hesitant to make a move, however, because they’re wait for values to reach “bottom.” This is more of a gamble than a strategy.

As any trader will tell you, picking a market’s top or bottom is nearly impossible.

Structured public/private partnerships can be successfully used as a vehicle to convey a large volume of assets of varying types and levels of quality to private-sector ownership and management (ex. FDIC), in a relatively short period of time, by appealing to a diverse group of investors who intend to employ geographically-targeted asset disposition approaches.

Freddie Mae and…………… continues on The Mortgage Reports

Metro Business asked Gail L. Letts, president and chief executive officer of the central Virginia region of SunTrust Banks Inc., about home-equity loans and lines of credit:

“There are basically two types of home-equity options for consumers.

“The first is the home-equity loan. With the home-equity loan, there is a fixed amount of money for a fixed period of time and a fixed interest rate, which means the monthly payment will always be fixed.

“With the home-equity line of credit, that is a revolving line of credit. The interest rate could be variable or fixed. The loan repayment time is typically longer, and the monthly payments are more flexible.

“When consumers are trying to decide which product is better, the loan or the line, things to take into consideration are: First, how long will you be in your home? If you are going to be in your home for a longer period of time, a line may be the better option.

“For shorter periods of time, the loan may be the better option.

“You want to understand; what is the interest rate? Will it be a variable interest rate or a fixed interest rate? Are there closing costs? Are there annual fees, and will there be repayment penalties?”

Thinking about a home equity loan or line of credit? You might be better off with a cash-out refinance of your current mortgage instead.

Lenders are once again offering home equity loans and lines of credit (HELOCs), after many suspended such offerings a few years ago with the crash of the housing market. But they’re still hard to come by and have steep equity requirements, a far cry from the days when lenders were actively encouraging borrowers to use their homes as seemingly bottomless piggybacks.

Advantages of a cash-out refinance

Although many are leery of doing it these days, borrowing against your home equity when you need cash can make good financial sense. The interest rates are some of the lowest available and are tax-deductable as well, since it’s mortgage interest. The important thing is to make sure you have sound reasons for needing the money, rather than to fund lifestyle purchases of the type put many homeowners deep into debt during the housing bubble. 

A cash-out refinance offers several advantages over either a home equity loan or a HELOC. To begin with, the interest rate is usually lower. Interest rates on 30- and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages are presently averaging about 3.9 and 3.2 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, HELOCs are averaging around 4.6 percent and home equity loans around 6 percent.

When you refinan…………… continues on NASDAQ

CEO and president of TexasLending.com, Kevin Miller, and his co-hosts will discuss the documentation required when refinancing, buying, or getting home equity loans in Texas on The TexasLending.com Mortgage Hour weekend radio show on KLIF AM radio in Dallas.

(PRWEB) February 17, 2012

Kevin Miller, CEO and president of TexasLending.com, a Texas home loan and mortgage company specializing in Texas refinance loans and Texas home equity loans, and his co-hosts’ discussion the documentation required when refinancing, buying, or getting home equity loans in Texas on The TexasLending.com Mortgage Hour on KLIF radio in Dallas on Saturday February 18th, 2012. Specifically, when we document assets it has become a firm requirement to document any deposits in a bank account that are not payroll related.

In Dallas/Fort Worth the TexasLending.com Mortgage Hour radio show airs on Saturdays on AM 570 KLIF…………… continues on Houston Chronicle

Having a home equity loan or home equity line of credit when you’re trying to refinance your mortgage adds a layer of complication to the approval process.

That’s because the second mortgage holder, which is legally entitled to move into first place when the first mortgage is refinanced, must agree to give up that spot to the refinance lender. If you can’t strike such a deal — called a resubordination — you have three options:

– Pay off the second mortgage.

– Consolidate both loans with the second mortgage lender.

– Forget about the refinance altogether.

Most refinancers prefer to go the resubordination route, though it takes time and often involves fees. Resubordination rules differ for loans under the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP.

Before a lender can refinance your primary mortgage, it must submit a subordination package — all of the documents supporting the request — to the institution holding your home equity loan. The second mortgage lender typically charges a fee of $ 75 to $ 100 to review the package, says Anne Benjamin, chief operating officer at Redwood Credit Union in Santa Rosa, Calif. Unless there are questions about the home’s value, Redwood seldom denies resubordination requests to second lien holders, Benjamin says. When there are such issues, the credit union is unlikely…………… continues on The Republic

The financially savvy are truly different from the rest of us. Know why? They get to use the tax code to their advantage in ways most other folks can’t or don’t or won’t.

They are borrowing against the equity in their homes at low rates and then investing the money in tax-deferred accounts, according to the co-authors of a new study, “Financial Sophistication and Housing Leverage among Older Households,” scheduled to be published in the Journal of Family and Economic Issues.

In other words, these people, mostly baby boomers, are getting a tax break on both sides of the deal, according to Hyrum Smith, an assistant professor at Virginia Tech’s College of Agricultural and Applied Economics; Michael Finke, an associate professor at Texas Tech University; and Sandra Huston, who is also an associate professor at Texas Tech University.

These investors get to deduct the mortgage interest on their tax returns and then they get to watch their money grow tax-free.

To find out more about the paper, go to this website.

The study authors say they found that taxpayers who itemize were more likely to have high mortgage debt and they also found that investing in a tax-sheltered retirement account was related to higher mortgage debt.

“The results seem to indicate that the more sophisticated households are responding to government tax incentives…………… continues on Smartmoney.com

LA JOLLA, Calif., Feb. 15, 2012 – /PRNewswire/ — Silvergate Bank’s financial results for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2011, show the bank posted the highest annual earnings in its 24-year history with net income of $ 3,084,000.    

“We are pleased to report that in 2011 Silvergate Bank surpassed its record earnings the prior year (2010), while also registering several other achievements that reflect our efforts to strategically grow our San Diego County service platform,” said Alan J. Lane, the bank’s president and chief executive officer.  ”We are particularly pleased by this performance in the face of continuing economic and real estate market challenges.”

Silvergate Bank’s financial highlights for the three months and 12 months ended December 31, 2011, included achieving record net income of over $ 3 million for the second consecutive year.  The bank also funded $ 1.4 billion in residential mortgage warehouse loans, with cumulative mortgage warehouse loan fundings reaching almost $ 3 billion since April 2009. Additionally, Silvergate Bank received $ 22.2 million in equity capital contributions from its parent firm, Silvergate Capital Corporation.  

Lane said Silvergate Bank continues to grow its San Diego County presence, opening a new branch in Escondido in North San Diego County, and receiv…………… continues on Silvergate Bank Posts Highest Annual Earnings in 24-Year History – Sacramento Bee

By Steven Matthews and Cornelius Frolik
Staff Writers 1:53 AM Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The housing slump and credit crunch have taken a toll on the home-improvement market, and some local residents are postponing or forgoing renovation projects because of a lack of funds or an inability to obtain financing or sell their homes.

The number of permits issued for residential remodeling, alteration or addition projects declined last year in a variety of cities and counties across the region, according to building records and data reviewed by the JournalNews.

Some home-improvement businesses have also seen their earnings fall.

Industry experts said the declines are likely attributable to persistently high unemployment, tight family budgets, stricter underwriting requirements for bank loans, shrinking home equity and the weak housing market.

“Housing values have dropped pretty dramatically, so you have to question the value of putting a fair amount of money into your home if it’s not going to be reflected in a higher value or a higher sale price,” said Vincent Squillace, executive vice president of the Ohio Home Builders Association. “The economics just don’t work in favor of remodeling li…………… continues on Oxford Press

By Cornelius Frolik and Tiffany Latta, Staff Writers 11:14 PM Monday, February 13, 2012

The housing slump and credit crunch have taken a toll on the home-improvement market, and some Miami Valley residents are forgoing renovation projects because of a lack of funds or an inability to obtain financing or sell their homes.

The number of permits issued for residential remodeling, alteration or addition projects declined last year in a variety of cities and counties across the region, according to data and building records obtained by the Springfield News-Sun. Some home-improvement businesses have also seen their earnings fall.

Industry experts said the declines are likely attributable to persistently high unemployment, tight family budgets, stricter underwriting requirements for bank loans, shrinking home equity and the weak housing market.

“Housing values have dropped pretty dramatically, so you have to question the value of putting a fair amount of money into your home if it’s not going to be reflected in a higher value or a higher sale price,” said Vincent Squillace, executive vice president of the Ohio Home Builders Association. “The economics just don’t work in favor of remodeling like it once did.”

Residential building permits or permits issued for remode…………… continues on Springfield News Sun

Give people enough line of credit and they’ll hang themselves with debt.

The bad boy of borrowing products – that’s the line of credit. Recently, the federal government asked the banks to stop blithely handing out home-equity credit lines to people. In his new book The Wealthy Barber Returns, David Chilton writes that credit lines can be an excellent financial tool for disciplined people. “The other 71.9 per cent of Canadians, however, should be careful. Very careful.”

More related to this story

• Canadians putting homes at risk with lines of credit
• Customers feel the pinch as banks cut risks
• Ottawa leans on banks to tighten lending

Debt is never more comfort…………… continues on Globe and Mail