Freddie Mac Economist Expects Slowdown in Housing Industry - 2004-01-27
Mortgage interest rates will edge up slightly, home starts and home sales will ease down, and inflation will hover at about 1.4 percent in 2004, Freddie Mac economist Amy Crews Cutts predicted Friday.

The rate for a 30-year fixed mortgages was at 5.64 percent on Thursday, Freddie Mac reported. Cutts expects rates to climb to 6 percent or 6.25 percent by the end of this year.
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Western Kentucky Bank Signs Will Stay Despite Union Planters Merger - 2004-01-27
Union Planters Corp. and Regions Financial Corp. disclosed a merger agreement Friday, but it could be up to two years before western Kentucky bank signs are modified.

The merged bank will operate out of Birmingham, Ala., where Regions is currently based. Union Planters is based in Memphis. Morgan Keegan's brokerage operations, acquired by Regions in 2001, and the combined mortgage business will be headquartered in Memphis.
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