American Express Introduces First-Of-Its-Kind Mortgage Payment Plan Via Credit Card

New York, NY (AHN) - In a first of its kind offer for the credit card industry, American Express has announced that cardholders will be able to pay monthly home mortgage bills on the American Express Card.

American Homer Mortgage Corp. is the first lender to introduce the Express Rewards Mortgage program.

Sanjay Sakhrani, an analyst at Keefe Bruyette & Woods told The Street.com, "American Express is trying to get into recurring payments" in order to encourage charging things such as gas bills and rent. Adding, "That assists their spending volume and also provides rewards to consumers and makes their card product more attractive," says Sakhrani. "My sense is that over time these partnerships should expand and should go to other card lenders as well."

Placing mortgage payments on the credit card "certainly increases the credit risk or the severity risk, but remember they're [lending] to the affluent consumer," Sakhrani said. "This consumer has a pre-existing credit line already. It certainly is scary, but you have to trust that they're issuing cards to higher-quality consumers, which I do."

A spokesperson for American Express said, "These are highly responsible, highly creditworthy consumers who are driven by rewards and convenience."

An independent research survey showed that customers preferred to pay monthly mortgage payments via credit cards. The survey, conducted by American Express, also revealed that consumers were motivated by the incentive of earning rewards such as cash back, airline or hotel points.

"By introducing an entirely new industry to card acceptance, American Express is providing tremendous value to our Cardmembers, Issuers and our Merchant partners," said Bill Glenn, president, Establishment Services North America and Global Merchant Network Group, American Express.

Glenn added, "The ability to pay recurring monthly mortgage payments on the Card, typically a consumer's largest monthly expense, brings unprecedented convenience and rewards to our Cardmembers. This builds on the American Express tradition of innovation, enabling our Cardmembers to use their Card where and when they want to spend in categories such as luxury apartment rentals, private jets and corporate events."

American Express Cardmembers who qualify for new purchase or refinance loans with American Home Mortgage need to pay $395 to enter the Express Rewards Program.

"The American Express Cardmember represents a very attractive customer segment for American Home Mortgage as we continue to grow our direct-to-consumer business channel," said Debbie Holiday, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for American Home Mortgage's Direct Group.

She added, "This innovative service will enhance our ability to expand our reach into a highly affluent market segment and offer Cardmembers increased flexibility and convenience."

American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. is a mortgage real estate investment trust.

American Express Announces a First for Credit Card Industry - Monthly Mortgage Payments

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a significant first for the credit card industry, American Express
today announced that Cardmembers will now have the ability to pay
monthly home mortgage payments on the American Express®
Card. American Home Mortgage Corp. will be the first lender to offer
this Express Rewards MortgageSM program for
eligible prime loans.

The announcement follows the successful introduction of luxury rental
payments (2003) and luxury condominium down-payments (2006) on the
American Express Card. The Express Rewards Mortgage program, designed
for the consumer seeking a new or refinanced prime loan, provides
Cardmembers with the ability to pay recurring monthly mortgage payments
on the American Express Card; delivering convenience and security since
they will have one less check to write and one less due date to
remember. It also offers Cardmembers another opportunity to earn
Membership Rewards, cash back, airline or hotel points or other types of
rewards affiliated with their Card simply by paying their monthly
mortgage.

In independent research conducted by American Express, consumers
overwhelmingly cited monthly mortgage payments as an ideal opportunity
to use their Card. In particular, the research indicates the desire to
earn rewards for mortgage payments as a key motivating factor. American
Home Mortgage will be able to differentiate themselves from their
competitors and to appeal to the premium customer, the affluent,
high-spending American Express Cardmember.

“By introducing an entirely new industry to
card acceptance, American Express is providing tremendous value to our
Cardmembers, Issuers and our Merchant partners,”
said Bill Glenn, president, Establishment Services North America and
Global Merchant Network Group, American Express. “The
ability to pay recurring monthly mortgage payments on the Card,
typically a consumer’s largest monthly
expense, brings unprecedented convenience and rewards to our
Cardmembers. This builds on the American Express tradition of
innovation, enabling our Cardmembers to use their Card where and when
they want to spend in categories such as luxury apartment rentals,
private jets and corporate events.”

American Express Cardmembers with qualifying new purchase or refinance
loans with American Home Mortgage will pay a one-time fee of $395 to the
lender for enrollment in the Express Rewards Mortgage program at the
time of closing. By participating in the program, Cardmembers will have
the convenience of automatically charging recurring monthly mortgage
payments to the American Express Card, decreasing the chance of late
payments. In addition, program enrollees receive a package of unique
benefits including access to premium service with a dedicated loan sales
and processing group and an exclusive set of home-related offers from
American Express merchants. The offers include such savings as $15 off
orders of $100 or more at Brookstone; $200 off purchases of $1,000 or
more at Design Within Reach; $20 off purchases of $100 or more at Linens ‘n
Things, among others.

“The American Express Cardmember represents a
very attractive customer segment for American Home Mortgage as we
continue to grow our direct-to-consumer business channel,”
said Debbie Holiday, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for
American Home Mortgage’s Direct Group. “This
innovative service will enhance our ability to expand our reach into a
highly affluent market segment and offer Cardmembers increased
flexibility and convenience.”

The program is open to all American Express consumer Cardmembers and
applies to new mortgages for a home purchase or refinance of a
qualifying prime loan offered by American Home Mortgage. To be eligible
for the program, the Cardmember must qualify for and close on a
participating prime loan under the lender’s
underwriting standards and must be pre-authorized by the issuer to make
the anticipated monthly payment.

About American Express

American Express Company is a diversified worldwide travel, financial
and network services company founded in 1850. It is a leader in charge
and credit cards, Travelers Cheques, travel, business services,
insurance and international banking. Establishment Services is the
merchant network of American Express, which acquires and maintains
relationships with millions of merchants around the globe, which welcome
American Express-branded Cards.

For more information, please visit .

About American Home Mortgage

American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. is a mortgage real estate
investment trust (REIT) focused on earning net interest income from
self-originated loans and mortgage-backed securities, and through its
taxable subsidiaries, from originating and servicing mortgage loans for
institutional investors. Mortgages are originated through a network of
loan production offices and call centers as well as through mortgage
brokers and correspondents and are serviced at the Company’s
Irving, Texas servicing center. For additional information, please visit .

MasterCard Profit Rises 70 Percent as Card Purchases Increase

MasterCard Inc., the second-biggest
U.S. credit-card company, said profit climbed 70 percent to a
record as consumers charged more purchases.

First-quarter net income rose to $214.9 million, or $1.57 a
share, compared with $126.7 million, or 94 cents per share, a
year earlier, the Purchase, New York-based company said today in
a statement. MasterCard was expected to earn $1.16 a share, based
on the average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

MasterCard shares have tripled since Chief Executive Officer
Robert Selander took the company public a year ago, capitalizing
on consumers' growing preference for credit and debit cards over
cash and checks. Earnings have also jumped at Visa International
Inc., the world's biggest credit-card company, which said last
year it will go public as well.

``We are bullish on the long-term prospects for
MasterCard,'' analyst Timothy Willi of A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc.,
which rates the stock ``hold,'' wrote in a note to clients this
week. ``Consumers, businesses and government are making cards
their preferred method of payment.''

Revenue rose 24 percent to $915.1 million, while expenses
climbed 8.2 percent to $601.2 million.

MasterCard credit- and debit-card spending increased 16
percent to $509 billion on a local-currency basis, and
transactions jumped 19 percent to 4.2 billion, the company said.

Cash and checks fell from 77 percent of U.S. consumer
payments in 1995 to 50 percent in 2005, while cards rose from
around 21 percent to 40 percent during that period, Willi at A.G.
Edwards wrote in an April 30 report to clients, citing data from
the Nilson Report in Oxnard, California. Nilson estimates that by
2010, card-based payments will account for around 56 percent of
consumer payments, while cash and checks will be down to around
29 percent.

``During the past 10 years, card-based payments have
aggressively displaced paper-based payments,'' Willi said.

Profit Margin

Shares of the company slid 9.7 percent on Feb. 9, the
biggest drop since MasterCard went public, after Selander
declined on a conference call with analysts to forecast continued
growth in profit margins. They rose $3.17 yesterday, or 2.8
percent, to $114.85 in composite trading on the New York Stock
Exchange.

A lawsuit accusing MasterCard of anticompetitive behavior,
brought by rival card networks American Express Co. and Discover
Financial Services, ``could put downward pressure on shares,'' as
could the expected initial public stock offering of Visa
International, according to analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The lawsuit is scheduled for trial in federal court next
year.

MasterCard in April 2006 began charging card issuers for all
foreign transactions using U.S.-issued cards. It used to assess a
fee only if it converted the related currency to U.S. dollars.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Joseph N. DiStefano in New York at
.

Wally Weitz on Washington Mutual (WM), American Express (AXP), UPS (UPS) and TD Ameritrade (AMTD)

left;">Wally Weitz’s commentaries on some of the stocks he just bought or sold: Washington Mutual (WM), American Express (AXP), UPS (UPS) and TD Ameritrade (AMTD) etc.

Wally Weitz, known as the other Oracle of Omaha, had a good year. For the 12 months ended on March 31, his Value Fund and Partners’ Value Fund returned more than 18%, and the more concentrated Hickory Fund 16.6%. For reference, S&P500 gained 11.8% in the same period. Over the past 20 years, his funds outperformed S&P500 by more than 3% per year. These are some of his commentaries on his recent buys and sells.


Washington Mutual (WM) -- Sold
We first bought Countrywide Financial and Washington Mutual (WaMu) in the early 1990’s. Countrywide has gained market share through internal growth and very efficient operations. Washington Mutual grew through acquisitions, and while it was not as strong as Countrywide from an operating perspective, it grew steadily and treated shareholders well with a combination of generous dividends and stock buybacks. Both have been very good investments for us. We sold our WaMu in the first quarter of (calendar) 2007 because of its exposure to subprime and Alt-A (what some refer to as "the mysterious middle ground between subprime and prime") and because we had less confidence in management’s ability to successfully cope with a crisis in the mortgage industry.


UPS (UPS) -- Buy
UPS is another wonderful business that we have admired for a long time. UPS dominates the U.S. ground parcel market and has a growing global transportation and logistics network that would be nearly impossible for a new entrant to replicate. The company continues to invest in that network (at high rates of return) to help cement its competitive advantage. The stock has declined lately due to a temporary slowdown in earnings, and while not quite cheap enough to take a full position, we have bought a modest number of shares and are hopeful that near-term economic weakness may give us the opportunity to buy more.

TD Ameritrade (AMTD) -- Buy
TD Ameritrade is a leading online discount brokerage firm based in Omaha. Their recent merger with TD Waterhouse helps diversify their business, adds meaningful scale, and provides the opportunity for significant cost savings in consolidation. We believe the stock is very cheap based on post-merger earnings power.

Dell (DELL) -- Buy
Dell is a direct marketer of computers and other electronic equipment that we have discussed in previous letters. Our bet is that Dell’s self-inflicted problems are fixable and that its highly efficient business model is not broken.

Apollo (APOL) -- Buy

Apollo is a leader in for-profit higher education. Apollo’s (and its peers’) earnings growth rate has slowed, but it still generates a growing stream of free cash flow which it can use for expansion and share buybacks. We believe that Apollo sells at a discount to its private market value. We would be happy to own it for many years and to participate in the growth in the value of the business, but the company might also find its way into a private equity portfolio at a healthy premium to its current price.
Mohawk (MHK) and USG (USG) -- Buy

Mohawk and USG (formerly U.S. Gypsum, when companies had names that meant something) are building materials companies that hold dominant positions in their industries (flooring and wallboard, respectively). Both are diversified among new home, remodel, and commercial construction markets, but are clearly cyclical businesses. Their stocks are depressed because of the current slowdown in residential construction and fears of a recession that would affect commercial construction. Both have demonstrated the ability to earn high returns and increase market share over the course of a business cycle.

American Express (AXP) -- Buy

American Express returned to our portfolios this year. Amex is a great business with a dominant payments franchise, a wonderful consumer brand, and an entrenched competitive position. The business earns over 30% on equity, has high-return reinvestment opportunities and returns substantial amounts of cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.



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