Fitch Ratings

Rising property prices and a torrid pace of lending are signals of an inflationary bubble.

Calypso Technology, a multi-asset-class trading and risk management software company, has purchased Codefarm, whose flagship Galapagos platform allows for the construction and management of collateralized debt obligation (CDO) portfolios. Terms of the deal, announced today, were not disclosed.

Scott Langmack has given more than US$600,000 in unsecured loans to strangers.

"I can reliably get 12 per cent, worst case 9 per cent," said Mr Langmack, 50, a former Microsoft marketing executive who began investing in so-called peer-to-peer lending last year. "I can't find anything that gives me this kind of confidence."