Friday, June 1, 2012

Market pointed down after disappointing job numbers

Welcome to the morning roundup. Here's a look at what's news in banking and finance this morning.

Job numbers. The market is pointed down this morning after disappointing jobs numbers. U.S. payrolls gained just 69,000 jobs in May, less than half of the estimate and much slower than recent months, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Stumpf speech. Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf made a number of headlines while speaking at a New York City investor conference Thursday. He said his bank has a strong risk committee twice the size of JPMorgan Chase's (Bloomberg), that Wells Fargo would have some "spillover" effects from a further European meltdown, though few direct effects (Bloomberg), and that Wells is eyeing insurance sales businesses to purchase (Reuters).

JPMorgan probe. Regulators are issuing subpoenas for emails and other documents at JPMorgan, using powers they gained in Dodd-Frank, the Wall Street Journal reports. The CFTC is looking for evidence of fraud in the trades that led to the $2 billion loss.

Mortgage dominance. Wells Fargo remained the nation's top mortgage originator in the first quarter, Forbes says, with 33.9 percent of the market. JPMorgan Chase was in second, with 10.6 percent.

Car balloon loans. The N.C. legislature will consider a bill that would allow balloon loans for car purchases, The News and Observer reports. Under current law, the final payment on a consumer loan cannot be 25 percent larger than the typical payment. Critics say the bill would encourage predatory lending.

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