s.l. lender to pay $1M fine in settlement with fha

SALT LAKE CITY - A Salt Lake mortgage lender will pay $1 million as part of a settlement for allegedly violating federal housing regulations on issuing residential loans.

RANLife Inc. failed to comply with federal rules and regulations in originating, underwriting and endorsing loans for Federal Housing Administration insurance from 2007 to 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The company endorsed for FHA insurance a total of 96 loans, all of which went into default within the first two years, and ultimately resulted in claims paid by HUD.

"RANLife falsely claimed to be in compliance with HUD rules on mortgage loans so that HUD - and U.S. taxpayers - would insure RANlife from losses on those loans," said U.S. Attorney John Walsh. "This sort of conduct contributed to the mortgage crisis of 2008 and hurt not only the housing market but the entire economy."

- Dennis Romboy

swift communications buys park city newspaper

PARK CITY - Swift Communications is buying The Park Record newspaper in Utah.

The acquisition of the publication in Park City adds another mountain town newspaper to the Nevada-based company's collection. The company already owns the Snowmass Sun, Aspen Times, Summit Daily News and Vail Daily in Colorado and the Tahoe Daily Tribune and Sierra Sun in California.

Swift is based in Carson City, Nevada, and owns more than 20 publications in Nevada, California, Colorado and Nebraska. It also owns a publications group in Wisconsin that produces farming magazines.

The Park Record reported the sale Tuesday. The company did not disclose how much it paid.

The Park Record publishes twice a week.

- Associated Press

Stocks advance in solid start to December trading

NEW YORK - Stocks started off December on a strong note, helped by improving economic data from Japan and Europe as well as hopes that the European Central Bank will expand its stimulus program. Trading remained relatively quiet ahead of the release later this week of the U.S. government's monthly jobs survey and a Federal Reserve meeting later this month.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 168.43 points, or 1 percent, to 17,888.35. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 22.22 points, or 1.1 percent, to 2,102.63 and the Nasdaq composite rose 47.64 points, or 0.9 percent, to 5,156.31.

Financial stocks were among the biggest gainers, helped by the prospect of higher interest rates. Banks are more profitable when interest rates rise because they can charge more to lend. JPMorgan Chase rose 93 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $67.61. Goldman Sachs rose $3.05, or 1.6 percent, to $193.07 and Bank of America rose 38 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $17.81.

Investors are keyed into both the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve this month. Policy decisions from both central banks will be important in determining the fate of the market in the last month of 2015.

"As it has been most of this year, central banks are still running the show," said Samantha Azzarello, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds.

- Associated Press