Households across a majority of large U.S. cities received more foreclosure warnings in the first six months of this year than in the first half of 2009, new data show.
The trend is the latest sign that the nation’s foreclosure crisis is worsening as homeowners battling high unemployment, slow job growth and an uneven rebound in home prices continue to fall behind on their mortgages.
In all, 154 out of 206 metropolitan areas with at least 200,000 residents posted an annual increase in foreclosure activity between January and June, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said today.
The firm tracks notices for defaults, scheduled home auctions and home repossessions – warnings that can lead up to a home’s eventually being lost to foreclosure.
CVS announces deal with Aetna; profit falls
CVS Caremark Corp. on Wednesday reported weaker quarterly earnings and lowered its profit forecast, but shares rose as investors approved of a large pharmacy benefit management services contract struck with Aetna.
CVS Caremark will administer Aetna’s retail pharmacy store network and manage customer service. It will also handle prescription drug purchasing, manage inventories and fill prescriptions for Aetna’s mail order and specialty pharmacy operations. The contract will ramp up over several years and bring in revenue of $8.2 billion next year. CEO Tom Ryan said the 12-year contract is the largest and longest contract in the industry.
The contract offsets other major contracts lost in the past year. That lost business pushed second-quarter net income down 7 percent to $821 million from $886 million. On a per-share basis, profit was unchanged at 60 cents as the company had fewer shares outstanding this quarter. CVS earned 65 cents per share if amortization costs and other one-time items are excluded.
Sprint Nextel back to subscriber gains
Sprint Nextel Corp. said Wednesday that it gained subscribers in its latest quarter, the first such gain in three years, as it continued to improve customer service and retention.
But it continued to lose the most lucrative customers, those who sign two-year contracts, and posted a wider loss for its second quarter due to tax effects.
Sprint gained a net 111,000 subscribers in the April-to-June period, compared with a loss of 257,000 in the same quarter last year. It said it expects to keep adding wireless subscribers for the rest of the year and reduce the number of contract customers who leave.
Sprint still lost 55,000 subscribers under its own brands – which include Virgin Mobile and Boost – in the latest quarter, but made up for that by adding 166,000 wholesale and affiliate subscribers.
Kokomo GM plant reassessing operations
A company spokesman says General Motors is reassessing operations at a plant in Kokomo.
GM spokesman Kevin Nadrowski says officials at the Kokomo Integrated Circuit Fab plant met with 375 workers Wednesday to say they’re “assessing the business model at the plant based on recent business developments.”
Nadrowski wouldn’t comment when asked whether GM is considering closing the plant, which makes auto electronics.
