Financial Stocks: Bond and mortgage insurers jump on MBIA deal (Market Watch) Shares of mortgage and bond insurers rally Thursday on news that MBIA Inc. is in a deal to reinsure billions of dollars in municipal bonds, showing the embattled bond insurer is able to attract new business despite the credit crunch.

Why haven't mortgage rates declined? (Bankrate.com via Yahoo! Finance) The Federal Reserve began to slash short-term interest rates almost a year ago. Yet mortgage rates are higher now. What gives?

Foreclosures Decrease; Mortgage Woes Don't (Washington Post) The number of foreclosures in Charles County dropped in the second quarter of the year, but residents still face significant mortgage troubles, according to a report issued this month by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.

Mortgage modifications reach record in July (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) The nation's mortgage companies modified a record 192,034 loans last month, setting up repayment plans or changing terms to avert foreclosure, an industry survey showed. ...

Freddie Mac: 30-yr Mortgage Rate Eases On Weak Economy (Fox News) Freddie Mac: 30-yr Mortgage Rate Eases On Weak Economy

Bankrate: Mortgage Rates Fall Again In Latest Week (Fox News) Bankrate: Mortgage Rates Fall Again In Latest Week

US Bond, Mortgage Insurers Higher On MBIA Reinsurance Deal (INO News) Shares of mortgage and bond insurers rose Thursday a day after announcement of a deal for MBIA Inc. (MBI) to reinsure billions of dollars in municipal bonds - showing the embattled bond insurer is able to attract new business despite the credit crunch.

Mortgage applications rise 0.5% as most rates dip (USA Today) The Mortgage Bankers Assocation said Wednesday that its composite index of loan applications rose a seasonally asjusted 0.5% the week ended Aug. 22, as interest rates slipped.

Mortgage-fraud reports are up (Philly.com) Efforts to tighten lending standards appear to have had little effect so far, as reports of mortgage fraud increased 42 percent in the first quarter of 2008 from the same period of 2007.

Md. Mortgage Broker Sentenced On Fraud Charges (NBC4 Washington, D.C.) A Pikesville mortgage broker has been sentenced to eight years in prison for his conviction on fraud charges.