Daily Finacial News - Mortgage | Real Estate | Stock Market

Dow gains 100 points as Greek debt fears ebb - CNNMoney.com -- Stocks rallied Thursday after the European Union's promise to help debt-ridden Greece eased worries that a default might hurt global markets.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 106 points, or 1%. The S&P 500 index gained 10 points, or 1.4% and the Nasdaq composite added 29 points, or 1.4%.

Stocks slid in the morning, but managed to turn up after the European leaders promised to help Greece, although details were scarce. The announcement gave investors the impetus to push the Dow back above the 10,000 mark, which it has been straddling for the last week.

Foreclosures Decline in January. Expecting Evictions to Increase in Months Ahead - What appears at first glance to be some good news on the foreclosure front may merely indicate a lull that is preceding new surge of activity. 

RealtyTrac, the Irvine California company that tracks such matters, reports that there was a 10 percent decline in foreclosure activity during January compared to the previous month.  However, the rate at which default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions were reported during the month was still 15 percent above the level one year earlier.  (MND comment: It is worth noting that all foreclosure activity on behalf of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae was suspended from November 26, 2008 until January 9, 2009.)

James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac said "January foreclosure numbers are exhibiting a pattern very similar to a year ago: a double-digit percentage jump in December foreclosure activity followed by a 10 percent drop in January. If history repeats itself we will see a surge in the numbers over the next few months as lenders foreclose on delinquent loans where neither the existing loan modification programs or the new short sale and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure alternatives works."