Mortgage companies, facing criticism that they aren’t doing enough to stem the housing crisis, are pledging to let troubled borrowers know whether they’re approved for help within 45 days of receiving a homeowner’s application.
The promise is expected to be announced Tuesday by the Hope Now alliance, a Bush administration-backed industry group, as part of a [...]

Aqua, the new alternative trading system (ATS) offering block liquidity to the global equity markets, announced that Brian Gay, a seasoned professional in the design and delivery of electronic trading systems for the financial services industry, has been named Senior Vice President and Global Head of Integration Services, with additional responsibilities in the areas of [...]

Investment in the Asia Pacific hotel sector is expected to exceed seven billion US dollars this year, up 33 percent from 5.25 billion dollars in 2006, an industry group has announced.
New markets such as China, India and Vietnam are expected to see increasing investor interest, while Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo will remain favoured destinations, [...]

The Ozarks tourist town of Branson is suing 15 Internet travel companies, including Travelocity and Expedia, claiming unpaid back taxes on hotel room bookings.
Branson’s lawsuit, filed in Greene County Circuit Court last week, alleges the travel services either failed to collect or remit a 4 percent hotel room tax. The litigation follows similar legal efforts [...]

Major stock market indexes are on the verge of posting weighty returns this year, but won’t come close to the performance of real estate investment trusts — again.
REITs have generated nearly 34% in total returns this year, according to a National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts index of U.S. REITs.
That performance continues an impressive [...]