| The Option ARM Loan: Turning the American Dream into a Nightmare
At first glance, an Option ARM loan can seem like a great opportunity for someone who is looking to purchase a home with the lowest monthly payments possible. An Option ARM mortgage starts out with low "teaser" interest rates that are only good for a month but are extremely appealing. An Option ARM loan also offers the borrower his choice of payment type: a minimum payment, an interest payment, or an amortizing payment. And the minimum payment can be seductively low, offering a borrower with limited cash flow the chance to buy a larger property than he expected to be able to afford. The problem is that if a borrower makes only the minimum payment on his Option ARM mortgage each month, he will quickly find that he is sliding into debt. As the teaser rate expires and the actual interest rate rises, the borrower's minimum payments will not make a dent in the actual loan principal nor the interest that is rapidly accruing.
US industry group demands more H-1B visas
Ken Wach, SIIA president, said: "The USCIS announcement that it met the cap on H-1B visa petitions on the first day of eligibility is further evidence that the current visa allotment system is broken. "If Congress does not take action to reform the system, the global competitiveness of many American companies will be threatened." US companies use H-1B visas to employ foreign workers in occupations that require technical expertise in specialised fields such as computer programming, science and engineering. The announcement by USCIS that the cap for H-1B visa petitions was reached on the first day of eligibility means that many 2007 foreign graduates of American universities will eventually be precluded from pursuing significant employment within the US for a period of 18 months, Wach warned.
Banking : the Budget 2007 effect
Bank credit grew by 30.2% as on January 5, 2007 as against 29.7% a year ago. Non-food credit grew by 31.2%, at the same rate as the previous year. Credit growth has been largely broad-based. About 34% of the incremental non-food credit was absorbed by industry, 12% by agriculture, 29% by personal loans and 25% by other loans. Growth in aggregate deposits accelerated to 21.1% as on January 5, 2007, from 16.2% in the previous year. Demand deposits grew by 19.2% vis-a-vis 28.7% a year ago. However, accretion to time deposits was significantly higher at 22.9% from 15.0% in the previous year. High growth in time deposits, apart from the acceleration in economic activity, can be attributed to higher deposit rates and tax benefits under Section 80C for deposits with a maturity of 5 years and above.
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