U.S. Subprime Auto Losses Reach Highest Level Since Crisis

U.S. subprime auto lenders are losing money on car loans at the highest rate since the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis as more borrowers fall behind on payments, according to S&P Global Ratings. Losses for the loans, annualized, were 9.1 percent in January from 8.5 percent in December and 7.9 percent in the first month of last year, S&P data released on Thursday show, based on car loans bundled into bonds.

Friday’s ETF with Unusual Volume: KBWR

The PowerShares KBW Regional Banking Portfolio ETF is seeing unusually high volume in afternoon trading Friday, with over 296,000 shares traded versus three month average volume of about 77,000. Shares of KBWR were up about 0.5% on the day.