So I talked some junk in my previous post, “What your tax rebate will really buy” . It seems that despite my pessimism, the government is going to throw us a bone earlier than expected. So instead of paying $4.00 / gallon for regular gas you might be paying $3.75, but something is better than nothing. Heres an article from AP on yahoo announcing the goodish news.

AP
Bush says rebates going out Monday will boost economy
Friday April 25, 11:46 pm ET
By Tom Raum, Associated Press Writer 
Bush says tax rebates going out Monday will help people afford rising gas, food prices

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush said tax rebates will start going out Monday, earlier than previously announced, and should help Americans cope with rising gasoline and food prices, as well as aid a slumping economy. Democrats said they were glad the rebate checks were about to go out, but suggested that multinational oil companies were not among the businesses the stimulus package was originally designed to help.
     “Starting Monday, the effects of the stimulus will begin to reach millions of households across our country,” Bush said Friday in remarks on the South Lawn of the White House. Those first rebates will be directly deposited into people’s bank accounts.
     The Internal Revenue Service had been saying direct deposits wouldn’t start until next Friday. Bush said paper checks would begin going out on May 9, a week earlier than previously announced.

Finance.Yahoo.Com – Click Here for Complete Story

   Wanting to buy a house in a couple years I began looking into whether or not low down payment options are still available. The reason being is the money is harder to get, but the homes are still so expensive you need a substantial amount of cash to do the traditional 20%. This is my observation only , so please meet with a qualified broker or lender , but there seems to be some hope. My findings are as follows;

1 – You use to need a good credit score to get the lowest interest rate , now you may need it to qualify for a lower down payment as well. Also FICO is changing its scoring model which may help people who have had minor slips in payments gain a higher credit score.

2 – FHA still offers low down payment programs , as low as 3% , through participating lenders and down payment assistance grants as well, find more information at fha.com

3 – Good Wells Fargo tool that shows the possibility of qaulifying for a loan with as little as 10% down.  Click here Wells Fargo Loan Tool .

On February 8th I wrote about the Bush Tax Rebate and what people could expect. Bush signed H.R. 5140, the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 into law on February 13th. Being an inquiring mind I have sifted through and dug out the answers to questions I wanted answered. I have summarized them below. If you want to see the full IRS article because the information you need has not been listed, click here.

1 – Will I have to claim the rebate as income on my 2008 taxes.
      NO! The tax stimulus rebate will not count as income when you file your taxes in 2008, it will not be  used to increase your taxable income.

2 - Will my refund be reduced if I owe any current or back taxes?
      YES! In this case it would be treated like any other refund and would be first applied to any outstanding liabilities owed to the IRS.

3 – When will I get my rebate and how?
      The IRS hopes to begin distributing the stimulus rebate by May. People who recieve their refunds or make payments directly from their bank accounts will get the refund quickest. If you use direct deposit and chose to use the multiple account option , it will be allocated as you specified or your refund.

Bear Stearns once commended as one of the greatest Investment Firms on Wall Street will soon be absorbed by JPMorgan Chase. A price agreement has been reached and shares of Bear will be swapped for shares of JPMorgan. Shares of Bear Stearns traded for as high as $163 now trades for $10 a share. Only $6 more than when it went public 23 years ago. Getting caught up in the subprime mortgage madness they would soon come undone. In less than a year Bear Stearns would be forced to sell itself or file chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Ticker Symbol: BSC
Company Key Dates:
1923: The original company is founded by Joseph Bear, Robert Stearns, and Harold Mayer as an equity trading house.
1933: Bear Stearns opens its first regional office in Chicago, and Salim L. “Cy” Lewis–future chairman–is hired to direct Bear Stearns’s new institutional bond trading department.
1955: Bear Stearns opens its first international office in Amsterdam.
1965: Bear Stearns begins expanding retail operations in the United States and, over the next eight years, opens offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, and Boston.
1978: Alan “Ace” Greenberg succeeds Lewis as chairman.
1985: Bear Stearns forms a holding company called Bear Stearns Companies, Inc., goes public, and reorganizes from a brokerage house into a full-service investment firm.
1992: Company earnings double to over $295 million for best year in Bear Stearns’s history to date.
1993: James E. Cayne succeeds Alan Greenberg as CEO; Greenberg stays on as chairman.
1999: Bear Stearns agrees to pay $42 million to settle civil and criminal fraud charges in connection with its role as clearing broker for A.R. Baron.
2001: James E. Cayne succeeds Alan Greenberg as chairman.
2001: Bear Stearns completes construction of its world headquarters at 383 Madison Ave, New York, NY.
2003: Bear Stearns along with 9 other of the worlds top investment firms are forced to pay penelaties related to using their in house R&D release false or inflated claims to move stock prices in a favorable manor for the firm.
2006: The company had total capital of approximately $66.7 billion and total assets of $350.4 billion.
2007: Around June 2007 Bear Stearns pumps 1.6 Billion of capital in its Enhanced Leverage Fund and High-Grade Fund to keep them from closing.
2008: Bear Stearns agrees to be bought by JPMorgan Chase for $10 per share, underwritten by $29 billion in special financing from the Fed.

Company History:
Bear Stearns Companies, Inc., the holding company that owns Bear, Stearns & Company, Inc., was created on October 29, 1985, as the successor to Bear Stearns & Company and Subsidiaries, a partnership organized in 1957. The partnership, in turn, was the successor to a company founded in 1923 by Joseph Bear, Robert Stearns, and Harold Mayer as an equity-trading house. Headquartered in New York, Bear Stearns today is a full service brokerage and investment banking firm focused on three core areas: capital markets, wealth management, and global clearing services. The company maintains offices in major cities all over the globe.
Read more…

Congress Sends $168 Billion Economic Stimulus to Bush (Update2)
By Alison Fitzgerald and Brian Faler

 Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Congress passed and sent to President George W. Bush a $168 billion economic stimulus package that he said is needed to help boost the slowing economy.

The legislation would send tax rebate checks to more than 111 million households, probably beginning in May. Lawmakers yesterday altered an earlier plan by making 20 million senior citizens and 250,000 disabled veterans eligible for the rebates. Bush said he will sign the measure.

“I want to thank the members for passing a good piece of legislation, which I will sign into law next week,” Bush said today in a speech to the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

In addition to the rebates and incentives for businesses to invest in new equipment, the measure increases the size of mortgage loans that government-chartered mortgage-finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy.

Bloomberg.Com – Click for Complete Story

Finance committee gives nod to stimulus measures. Proposals to give tax rebates to seniors and aid the unemployed gain support. Next step: Full Senate vote.

By Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney.com senior writer
January 30 2008: 6:36 PM EST
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday approved a proposal intended to curb a further slowdown in the economy. The proposal, which differs from a bill overwhelmingly approved Tuesday by the House, could be introduced as a bill and voted on by the full Senate as early as Thursday. Lawmakers are aiming to send final legislation to President Bush by Feb. 15.

The committee meeting took place the same day that the government issued a report that economic growth in the last quarter of 2007 was weaker than expected and the Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate another 50 basis points following its emergency move last week that lowered the federal funds rate by 75 points.

 CNN.Money.Com – Click for Complete Story

**Updated to include elderly and disabled veteran rebates**
Assuming democrats don’t mess things up, chances are this is how its going to break down:

Under the agreement announced by the White House, individual taxpayers who earned enough to pay federal taxes would get up to $600 in rebates, working couples $1,200 and those with children an additional $300 per child.

The Bill sent to President Bush would give $300 tax-rebate checks to those whose Social Security benefits, veterans’ disability payments and earned income totaled a minimum of $3,000 last year.

Adjusted Gross Income is more than $3,000 but owed little to no taxes would get $300 or $600 for couple + $300 per child

Adjusted Gross Income is less than  $75,000 , rebate would be equal to the taxes paid in 2007 up to $600 + $300 per child

Adjusted Gross Income for couples less than $150,000 , rebate would be equal to the taxes paid in 2007 up to $1,200 + $300 per child

 For people who exceed these limits the rebate is reduced by 5% for every $1 over the limit. Example, if you made $85,000 you would be $10,000 over so $10,000 x .05 ( 5% ) = $500. $600 – $500 = $100, which would be your rebate. The plan would allow for people not eligible based on 2007 income to qualify again in 2009 based on their 2008 taxes. The government hopes to start sending rebates in mid-may and complete payments in 10 weeks.

 Finance.Yahoo.Com – Click for Complete Story