Also, more drama at New York Community Bancorp and a breakdown of how much money you need to buy a home with a 7% mortgage China has long dominated the world market for rare earth minerals, which are required components of many devices, including the one on which you are reading this article.

This week Myra P. Saefong reported on how the global market for rare earth minerals has been changing, with China becoming less dominant, and highlighted the opportunity for investors to take advantage of this profound market shift.

NYCB saga continues Late on Thursday, New York Community Bancorp NYCB, -24.95% announced that Alessandro DiNello, who was named the bank’s chairman early in February, would take over as CEO after Thomas Cangemi resigned.

But what really surprised investors was that the the bank also said it had identified “material weaknesses” in its loan-review processes.

NYCB followed up on Friday by announcing the hiring of George F. Buchanan III as vice president and chief risk officer and Colleen McCullum as the company’s chief audit executive.

This story has continued to develop since Jan. 31, when NYCB surprised investors by cutting its dividend and reporting a fourth-quarter net loss as it built up reserves to cover potential losses in its commercial real estate and multifamily residential loan portfolios.

DiNello was formerly CEO of Flagstar Bancorp of Troy, Mich., which New York Community Bancorp acquired in December 2022. New York Community also purchased deposits and loans from the failed Signature Bank of New York in March 2023 through a transaction arranged by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The two acquisitions brought NYCB’s total assets up to $116.3 billion as of Dec. 31 from $59.6 billion two years earlier. Passing the $100-billion threshold means the bank must begin submitting annual capital plans to the Federal Reserve this year.

NYCB’s share price had already fallen 53% for 2024 through Thursday. The stock was down another 24% in afternoon trading Friday.

An obvious question now is whether or not it is time for New York Community Bancorp’s board of directors to sell the bank. Citigroup analyst Keith Horowitz believes NYCB will have to solve its problems “on its own.”