Word: primed
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...animated, fiction and documentary shorts), thus allowing the evening to be a showcase of star actors, possibly with longer clips from their films. That's what the Grammy show has become: an all-star concert, with only 10 of the record industry's 110 awards presented on the prime-time show. Or Oscar could go the full American Idol route, with the nominated thespians in an "act-off" of big movie scenes, and the viewing audience, not the Academy's senior citizens, choosing the winner...
...Among prime borrowers, those with jumbo mortgages - ones that have traditionally been for more than $417,000 - are seeing delinquencies accelerate the fastest. In January, 3.32% of such borrowers were behind on their payments, up from 1.75% in August. (That doesn't include the 1.1% of borrowers already in foreclosure.) Since Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac don't buy these large loans, it's been tougher for homeowners to refinance their way out of trouble - and the new housing-rescue package, which specifically excludes jumbo loans, won't do anything to change that dynamic...
Delinquencies are also getting much worse among holders of option adjustable-rate mortgages (option ARMs). These loans, typically made to borrowers with prime or near-prime credit scores, let soon-to-be homeowners pick from a menu of monthly payments - often including an option that didn't even keep up with the interest due. As home prices have fallen, the number of option ARM borrowers running into trouble has surged, with 15.25% of loans delinquent and another 7.46% in foreclosure. Some analysts think the problem in option ARMs could eventually rival the size of the subprime meltdown. (See pictures...
...Renzi's rise comes at a difficult time for the Democratic Party, the main center-left opposition to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing coalition government. At the national level, the party is in utter disarray, mired in petty battles of personalities and unable to cast aside the remnants of bygone labels and ideologies. This week, Democratic party chief Walter Veltroni resigned after the party's sitting member in Sardinia was walloped in regional elections by Berlusconi's hand-picked candidate. After Veltroni's resignation, Berlusconi quipped that he is "getting used to not having an opposition...
Next week, Clinton's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, is expected to travel to the region. With a government still unformed by soon-to-be Prime Minister Netanyahu, Mitchell is not going to have a lot of business to transact in Jerusalem. But he is already signaling a shift in the U.S. approach to the divided Palestinian leadership. In a 45-minute telephone conversation with U.S. Jewish leaders Thursday, Mitchell reportedly expressed support for a unity government involving both the impotent Palestinian Authority and Hamas. Though the U.S. will adhere to the four conditions for talking to Hamas that Clinton...