Fitch Ratings said it cut the credit rating for Suffolk County, N.Y., one notch to A-plus on Wednesday, citing “persistent” operating deficits and the reliance on one-shot revenue measures. Continue reading →

A vial of Ronald Reagan's blood is for sale at an auction. Photograph: Handout/Reuters A vial of what is purported to be blood from late president Ronald Reagan is on sale at an online auction house, sparking outrage from his estate and the medical community.A seller at PFCAuctions.com – purveyor of "world class art, antiques and collectibles" – listed the vial of "dried blood residue from President Reagan" on Sunday. By Tuesday afternoon, bidding had reached $12,000. The vial is alleged to have come from the laboratory where the president's blood was sent for testing after John Hinckley shot Reagan on March 30, 1981."My mother worked for Bio Science Laboratories in Columbia, Maryland," the unnamed seller writes. "Her laboratory was the laboratory contracted by the ... Continue reading →

Home prices hit bottom in the first quarter, but will remain flat for the rest of this year and into next, according to a new forecast from Bank of America/Merrill Lynch. “Our view is that we have actually seen a bottom in the first quarter of 2012,” said Christopher Flanagan, head of U.S. securitized research at B of A/Merrill Lynch.Speaking at an American Securitization Forum conference in Washington this week, Flanagan said he expects values will increase by just 0.5% this year and 0.3% in 2013, using the Case-Shiller home price index as a benchmark.“We have hit bottom but we are going to bounce along for a couple of years,” the managing director said.Flanagan noted that distressed sales will continue to weigh on residential values. ... Continue reading →

With the Atlantic hurricane season days away, bonds of Florida’s largest real-estate insurer are rallying the most in nine months as forecasters assess a below- average chance the state will be hit by a major storm. Buyers are demanding the smallest yield penalty since August on tax-exempt debt from state-owned Citizens Property Insurance Corp. No hurricane has made landfall in Florida since 2005, and investors such as Michael Schroeder at Wasmer, Schroeder & Co. said they’re adequately compensated for the risk as the season gets under way June 1. Schroeder said Citizens and the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, which sells protection to every in-state insurer, will be able to finance cleanup costs through municipal debt and policyholder fees. Citizens plans to sell as much as ... Continue reading →