- Florida enacts new state rules and regulations relating to sinkhole insurance and property taxes. A new bill introduced in Pasco and Hernando counties states that insurers can “nonrenew” existing sinkhole coverage. “The bill also requires the state to implement a grading system to determine how effective local sinkhole loss prevention ordinances are at preventing sinkholes and reducing the severity of damages.”
- Five U.S. mortgage insurance companies are downgraded. You may have seen this coming, but Standard & Poor’s Rating Services downgraded five mortgage insurance groups, along with their core and dependent foreign subsidiaries. The article stated that “a backlog in foreclosures due to high unemployment and the economic crisis has slowed claims payments, but extended loses over a longer period than initially expected.”
- Is the dollar headed for a rebound? According to today’s BusinessWeek article citing Marc Faber’s Gloom Boom & Doom newsletter, it is. Faber claims the dollar “may appreciate another five to 10% against the euro in the ‘near term’ as bearish betting on the greenback becomes too crowded.” The report stated that the dollar has gained 4.2% to $1.4396 per euro this month.
- A beef recall has been initiated in six states. The U.S. Agriculture Department traced the E. coli bacteria in the meat to National Steak and Poultry, an Oklahoma-based meat packing company. The company then began a voluntary recall of 248,000 pounds of beef products in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, South Dakota and Washington state.
- The U.S. is now more tsunami-ready than ever before. According to the Insurance Information Institute, since the devastating Indonesian tsunami in 2004, the U.S. has “significantly expanded its tsunami detection capabilities and broadened municipal awareness of this natural disaster.”
Find an interesting link? Email any stories, videos or images you come across and would like to see included. Or just follow me on Twitter @RiskMgmtMonitor and pass it along that way.