Subprime

Understanding What Happened With Subprime MortgagesBy: Donald PlunkettAfter the steep rise in subprime lending in the 2001-2006 period, followed by the credit crunch of 2007, some might ask, If their borrowers cant pay, why did the lenders make these loans in the first place? Did they not want to be paid back? To get to the bottom of this question, people need to understand how real estate lending

From ReutersTAIPEI, July 9 (Reuters) - Taiwan financial firms have suffered losses of T$42.572 billion ($1.4 billion) since August 2007 in investments related to U.S. subprime products, the island's top financial regulator said on Wednesday.Of the total, banks took a hit of T$34.172 billion and insurance companies lost T$8.4 billion, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said in a statement.S

SINGAPORE, July 8, 2008 (AFP) - The global fallout from the US subprime mortgage crisis could last another two years, the chairman of Singapore-based United Overseas Bank said in a newspaper report Tuesday."I hope I am wrong, but my view is that this crisis will take one to two years to stabilise," Wee Cho Yaw, a banker for almost 50 years, told a university commencement ceremony, The Straits Time

by Dr. Ellen Brown Global Research, June 25, 2008 webofdebt.com “If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent [...]

The following article is from a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) news release dated 01/31/08. Think about it, you finally get your dream home even though your credit is not good. You get a subprime loan with an adjustable rate mortgage and a few years later the interest rates go way up and you [...]

A US bank part-owned by billionaire Warren Buffett is suing Deutsche Bank over risky financial investments of the kind that caused the subprime crisis, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. A Deutsche Bank spokesman contacted by the newspaper declined to comment. M&T Bank is suing Deutsche over a $ 82 million(53-million-euro) investment in mortgage securities known as [...]

Weakening signs ...1. Forecast for economic growth down to 5.5% from 6%.2. Unemployment up to 2% from 1.7%3. Retrenchment rose to 2,274 in Q1 2008, higher than 1,966 in the previous quarter and 1,964 in the same quarter a year ago.4. Forecast for Inflation up to 6% from 5%.Still looking strong ...Total employment grew by a record 73,200 in Q1 08, compared to 62,500 in Q4 07 and 49,400 in Q1 07.The

Angelo R. Mozilo, the 69 year old Chairman and CEO of Calabasas, CA based Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC), the nation's biggest mortgage lender, is in the news for all the wrong reasons. As the company he founded in 1969 along with David Loeb dissappears in a buyout deal with Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC), Mozilo faces a barrage of criticism about the way he mishandled the company and

Japanese government estimates subprime losses at nation's banks at $8 billion StarTribune Japanese banks are saddled with $8 billion in losses linked to the bad housing credit problem in the United States, the government said Friday, a number that's still small compared to counterparts there and in Europe. Data from the Financial Services Agency showed the losses at Japanese banks caused by

Japan's former vice finance minister for international affairs expressed concern over a possible new phase of financial turmoil caused by the US subprime crisis. In a recent interview with Jiji press, the former vice finance minister stated that an increase in bad loans linked to subprime mortgages would lead to a series of bankruptcies among US regional banks, noting that this would be 'Chapter 2

By Walden SiewNEW YORK (Reuters) - A "credit recession" sparked by the U.S. housing market downturn and excesses in structured finance may last more than two years, and the financial sector will undergo "massive consolidation," leading Wall Street strategists said on Wednesday. The fallout from deteriorating subprime mortgages and the broader housing and credit crisis will eventually lead to a hea

Author: Duglaus Hondo Subprime auto loans are introduced in market especially for people with credit problems. They have to pledge their home or anything valuable against the loan as collateral. By paying high down payment against the loan interest rate can be brought down. Subprime borrower means people having credit hazards but still they are worth enough to be lent money. And subprime auto loan

Some of this stuff you simply cannot makeup. At this point, I think the majority of folks have come to realize that any legislation trying to help homeowners and lenders is guided by politics rather than good economics. There is a fascinating incident that occurred where our favorite CEO appears to have [...]Related Posts:■Real Homes of Genius: $1 Million Discount for a 948 Square Foot Long B

High inflation and soaring oil prices are once again dictating the action in currencies after hitting a new all time high of $129.50 per barrel. A tumbling dollar has been the order of the day,... More at: http//moneymakinglounge.blogspot.com

Just when you think everything about the origin, buildup and the mayhem unleashed by subprime mortgage loans has already been inked and rehashed and the lessons learned, Washington drums up another wackadoo scheme which simply sets the stage for a relapse. Starting June 1, Fannie Mae will accept up to 97% loan-to-value (LTV) ratios for conventional, conforming mortgages processed through its

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Ambac Financial said on Wednesday that it has no material exposure to securities backed by subprime second-lien mortgages and subprime home equity lines of credit, two types of securities that are worrying Moody’s Investors Service. The rating agency said yesterday that bigger-than-expected losses on these securities may increase the capital that bond insu

Moody’s Investors Service said loss expectations on securities backed by subprime home-equity deals have gotten worse than expected and could have “material implications” on the bond insurers’ capital adequacy. The credit rater also said again that the industry’s two biggest players - MBIA Inc. (MBI) and Ambac Financial Group Inc. (ABK) - could lose their AAA ratings

Subprime Mortgage Credit Derivatives by Frank J. Fabozzi Subprime mortgage bonds and ABS CDOs have become the biggest credit and risk management failure in history. Their story is one of how a small, inconsequential part of the mortgage market grew into a monster large enough to shake the very foundations of the U.S. financial system. It is a story with some elements that are old and some that

I'm sure it's an economic fact and known by people with much smarter brains than mine, but the concept of a Global Pool of Money is staggering. The Global Pool of Money is a major player in how the sub-prime...

“So who - or what - is to blame for what’s being called the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression? Strangely it’s all tied back to not only derivatives… but also the currency markets. Or more specifically, the carry trade.” — Jack Crooks Blogger’s note: Jack Crooks sent [...]

I found this on USAToday: The first concrete evidence that delinquencies on mortgage bills have spread well beyond those with subpar credit shows that even prime borrowers have increasingly fallen behind on their house payments. About 2.3% of prime loans were 60 days’ past due in February, the highest level in at least a decade, according to [...]

-subprime-lenders-and-investors-should-not-get-help-warren-buffett.aspx “Capitalism without failure is like Christianity without hell,” Mr. Buffett said. He added that “lenders and investors who were dumb enough to deal in subprime mortgages should not receive any special help,” but if homeowners were deceived about the terms of an adjustable mortgage, they should be helped. I completely agree, but I'm still curious what happened with his plan to start a financial guarantor company. Originally when AMBAC and MBIA were taking heat for their subprime exposure and writedowns there was talk of Buffett bailing one out or starting his own under the Berkshire Hathaway name. Guess we will have to wait and see.

HONG KONG - New York-based asset management firm BlackRock Inc. is to purchase a portfolio of subprime mortgage debt from UBS AG for $15 billion, with details of the deal to be announced when the Swiss bank releases its operating results for the first quarter later Tuesday, according to a media report. BlackRock is purchasing the debt at a 25% discount from its face value of $20 billion, the Financial Times reported Tuesday, without saying where it got the information. The debt will be placed in a new fund that will be marketed to investors, the report said. UBS will hold a minority interest in the new fund and will be able to participate in any gains. The deal represents a contrarian bet the worst may be over in the credit markets and come

Reuters - Federal prosecutors in New York have formed a task force together with other government agencies to examine the collapse of the market for risky home loans, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn said on Monday.

Os recomiendo el siguiente vídeo de Youtube he reído un buen rato.Copio y pego el comentario de Vanitatis, donde lo he encontrado, sobre el vídeo."A veces la economía se llena de explicaciones farragosas que hacen imposible comprender de qué se está hablando exactamente. Algo así ocurre con la crisis 'subprime'. Por suerte los humoristas John Bird y John Fortune, famosos por sus hilarantes diálogos, ponen los puntos sobre las íes y explican exactamente cómo los sentimientos han acabado por dominar los mercados y fomentaron la crisis. Británicamente desternillante."Disfrutad del vídeo.

There seems to be a false sense of security that somehow, the credit (debt) crisis is now slowly floating away into space. The market rally is indicative of this false sense of security. All bad news is ignored while slim glimmers of good news are enough to spark a rally. We are [...]Related Posts:■The Housing Wave of the Future: Two Main Mortgage Tsunamis.■Did you Feel That? Housing Just Hit the Third Rail.■What really goes on with Black-matter SIVs. A Micro-case study. My Experience with Prosper and how it is Similar to the Current Mortgage Debacle.■The Rent vs. Buying Dilemma: Mortgages the Southern California Way. 3 Factors to look at: Increase Rental Prices, Housing Price Declines, and Tighter Credit Markets.■Second Quarter Housing All-Stars Recap: Subprime closes s

Some view the moves by the Bush Administration to increase the limits of guarantees by the Federal Housing Administration as not enough. Sheila Blair from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) suggests that: Congress should initiate a publicly funded loan program under which the Treasury Department would make loans to borrowers with unaffordable mortgages to pay down as much as 20 percent of their principal. Although I feel for those who legitimately were fooled by their mortgage terms, I do not believe that a bailout should be available to all subprime borrowers with high loan values and falling home prices. I would be interested in the stipulations included in the proposed subprime bailout.

Saw an interesting video today that compared the early 20th century American stock market to todays subprime crisis. There really are some stunning similarities, but the piece that caught my eye was the last 20 seconds when he describes the investor pull out right before the 1929 stock market crash as “The Greatest Robbery [...]

-estate/article/subprime-market-melts-shareholders-heated_574414_17.html Angry institutional investors of firms such as Morgan Stanley and Washington Mutual have become involved in changing the face of the board of directors. Shareholder activists such as Change to Win have campaigned against directors they believe would should no longer be in control. This type of active investing has been correlated with increased returns for shareholders. Research on programs such as CALPERs have determined that large institutional investors can see increased returns by spending only a small proportion of their fund's money in order to actively protect their investments.

Navigant Consulting released today that in the first quarter of 2008 there were 170 cases filed. Of the 170 cases filed, borrower class actions and securities cases dominated the subprime filings with 79 and 44 cases respectively. Based on the explosion of federal subprime filings, Navigant expects that the total case filing "will soon surpass the 559 savings-and-loan cases of the early 1990s." For more information check out Navigant Consultings website.

I finally got around to making a bank alt. Subprime.  He is technically a lvl 1 gnome warrior, but he really is a banker at heart.  My wife made him a nice tux outfit.  Now I just need to find him a monacle and cufflinks via fishing quest and I am all set.

Se le società di recuperi giudiziari sponsorizzano i programmi di news sulle radio londinesi, cosa vorrà dire? Il “veleno” dei subprime continua a circolare nei sistemi finanziari mondiali, esplodendo qua e là, in maniera che, a volte, parrebbe frutto di...

Dan Crittenden is an experienced and top producing Mortgage Banker/ Mortgage Broker specializing in real estate financing and home mortgage loans throughout the State of Washington and the United States. Mr. Crittenden has been referred to me from a very reliable source and is here today to have a brief chat and answer a few of [...]

For months, mortgage lenders have been backing away from borrowers with spotty credit, all but closing down the so-called subprime mortgage market. More surprisingly, they’ve also been increasingly loath to lend to high-end borrowers who might want to finance a home in tony Preston Hollow, say, or the Park Cities. That means doctors, lawyers, business owners and [...]

On the beginning of February I posted article about total credit market losses and write-downs (Total writedowns Feb 2008).On this post I received comment from Cyrille from UK. He informed us about updated losses. Have a look to the progress within 2 months, total losses have deepened from 146 billion USD to 231 billion USD.Data source: Bloomberg.Company Writedown Credit l. TotalUBS (UBS) 38 38Merrill Lynch (MER) 25.1 25.1Citigroup (C) 21.4 2.5 23.9HSBC (HBC) 3 9.4 12.4Morgan Stanley (MS) 11.7 11.7IKB Deutsche 9 9Bank of America (BAC 7.3 0.9 8.2Deutsche Bank (DB) 7.4

With the subprime industry suffering from a serious meltdown, experts including consumer advocates and presidential candidates offer some suggestions on how to fix this continuing crisis that resulted to millions of foreclosure homes for sale. Bankruptcy Code According to Senators Christopher Dodd (Connecticut) and Richard Durbin (Illinois), the damages caused by the present mortgage and credit crisis [...]

The FBI is looking into why the subprime market fell apart. As a matter of fact, it wants those who are guilty to turn themselves in so they do not have to be... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Buying A House, Even If You Might Have Bad CreditWhether you’ve just found your dream home or you’re still searching, the right time to choose a home loan may still be now. With so many different loans available, how do you know which one will be best suited to your needs? xxxxxyyzz Lending, we give you the tools and insights you need to make the decision much simpler.Holy moly!I cannot believe I saw this ad from a mortgage company !!! These people have no mercy.Recession, what recession? according to them , subprime is still in full effect. LOL

As the lending industry continues to implode frustrations between buyers and sellers are on the rise. With the collapse of the Subprime market shockwaves flow through the industry. Subprime loans were made and packaged into groups and then were rated and insured by bonding companies and then sold on the stock market. As the housing [...]

Aqui tienen otra publicidad para la serie de articulos en la categoria de “Publicidad Abusiva / Subprime.” La publicidad ha sido modificada para no indicar nombres o numeros de telefono. Esta publicidad tiene un mensaje muy comun encontrado en las revistas en Español. Como puede ver este dice “Tienes Pagos Tardes? Muchas Deudas? Problemas Con Su Credito? [...]

Here is another submission for the series on “Predatory / Subprime Advertisement.” The advertisement has been modified so that it won’t show names or phone numbers. This advertisement has a much common message found in the Spanish magazines. It states “Are you late with your payments? A lot of debt? Credit Problems? Call us and we will [...]

Even if you are not facing foreclosure or do not own a home, you are exposed to the continuing financial earthquakes caused by the mortgage meltdown. CNN and Fortune Magazine have produced a television show called "Busted - Mortgage Meltdown" that investigates the ways the mortgage crisis impacts everyone. Among other things the show covers how the subprime crises affected: home values (down)

The Federal Reserve announced earlier this month that they will posting interactive maps to illustrate subprime loan conditions across the U.S. The maps will display regional variation in the condition of securitized, owner-occupied subprime and alt-A mortgage loans. You can search the map first by state and then narrow it down further by most counties and zip codes. The information on the maps includes: loans per 1,000 housing units loans in foreclosure per 1,000 housing units loans real estate owned...

Wilbur says watch out for regional banks. ↑ Grab this Headline Animator Visit the ValuePlays Bookstore for Great Investing Books This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License. --> Enter your Email Preview | Powered by FeedBlitz Continued at Todd Sullivan's ValuePlays

The New York Times brutalized the accounting industry today by suggesting that auditors should have caught bad numbers on the books of financial companies much... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Although the recent legislation in Congress has been getting the most attention recently, others have floated some even more creative ways to fix the subprime market debacle. From a CNNMoney story:First, tweaking the bankruptcy code:Judges already have the power to shrink or vaporize many debts, like credit card balances and mortgages on investment properties. This idea, supported by Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), would let judges reduce primary home loans as well. The pros: The plan could save hundreds of thousands of people from foreclosure without costing taxpayers anything, say consumer advocates. And it's a minor change, so it could happen fast. The cons: The Mortgage Bankers Association says its members would have to raise rates on all home loans by as

The Bush Administration today announced additional mortgage assistance for subprime borrowers who are at risk of foreclosure. The plan, which is designed to help address the adverse economic conditions affecting many communities across America, will help break the cycle of house price depreciation that is being caused by an increasing number of foreclosures and the [...]

According to Reuters via Yahoo Finance: Soros says global subprime losses could top $1 trillion NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor George Soros said on Wednesday that global losses from the subprime mortgage debt crisis could top $1 trillion. “Losses being recognized now amount to $1 trillion,” from the subprime mortgage debt crisis, said Soros, asked about an [...]

PARIS - THE subprime crisis is not over, the head of the OECD Angel Gurria said on Wednesday, describing it as a 'collective bankruptcy' and damning failures throughout the chain of financial risk and regulation.Mr Gurria was particularly critical of supervision of the financial sector, telling the French newspaper Liberation that the rules 'were not sufficiently respected or were not strict enough.'He said: 'The entire institutional chain, well oiled, all this sophistication, on Tuesday the pride of the authorities, has been put into question by this collective bankruptcy.'In this respect, he pointed his finger at 'the banks, the investment funds, intermediaries, the credit rating agencies, the insurers.'The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development works on behalf of 30 indus

According to the Internal Monetary Fund, sub-prime related losses are expected to topple $1 trillion. Thus far the street's consensus is that sub prime related losses have only reached $170 billion; however, related losses to mortgages, mortgage securities, commercial real estate, and consumer credit may all add up to nearly $1 trillion if conditions continue to deteriorate.

The New York Fed created a dynamic map that shows loan performance for each state. Below you will find the stats for Alt-A & subprime loans for Oregon. Click on any image for a better picture. The thing that really catches my eye is the LTV for both Alt-A and subprime loans; 80% for Alt-A and 90% for Subprime.Two-thirds of the Alt-A loans were 'Liar Loans'.

There is something to be said about creative marketing and the influence it has had on this credit bubble. Yes, it is one thing to go after the Federal Reserve, Wall Street, greedy speculators, or unscrupulous lenders since we tend to associate a sense of responsibility with them in creating this credit bubble. [...]Related Posts:■True American Idol: Subprime Mortgage Lenders Send off a Blast Heard Around the World.■When will my home cost me an ARM and a leg?■Dr. Housing Bubble Celebrates Monumental 100th Post! Top 10 Housing Articles.■Foreclosures jump statewide by 40% in California in just one quarter! Welcome to California’s Gold!■Did you Feel That? Housing Just Hit the Third Rail.

Yesterday, congress reached a compromise bill to provide aid to those facing foreclosure or already in the midst of a foreclosure. This $15-20 billion dollar bill (all puns intended) will attempt to help deflate the housing bubble in a more controlled manner, and try to prevent the U.S. economy from going into (more) of [...]

Kent and Mysti Cope were well-paid executives at subprime lenders who never thought the industry could disappear overnight. Now they’re just trying to get by. SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (CNNMoney.com) — Kent and Mysti Cope met and fell in love working for one of the nation’s top subprime lenders. Now, their life has been turned upside down [...]

The general co-chairman of John McCain’s presidential campaign, former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), led the charge in 1999 to repeal a Depression-era banking regulation law that Democrat Barack Obama claimed on Thursday contributed significantly to today’s economic turmoil.read more | digg story

RECOMMENDED BOOK I recently got a chance to read a very interesting book that tells the full story about subprime and the crazy days of the last real estate boom. The name of the book is “Greed, Fraud & Ignorance: A Subprime Insider’s Look at the Mortgage Collapse” by Richard Bitner, a 14-year veteran of the mortgage industry. For [...]

Hillary Clinton has been spending more time on the campaign trail calling out predatory lenders who have left millions of Americans in the foreclosure process. Yet, her campaign manager, Margaret “Maggie” Williams, sits on the board of Delta Finance, one of the largest subprime mortgage lenders. Williams has earned about $200,000 on the Delta board. Delta made most of its money buying and

Commentary by A.W. Bodine and C.J. Nagel, faculty at Concordia College–New York March 26, 2008 With world markets off 20%, Bear Stearns imploding and public... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

A year ago Irvine, Calif., was still riding high on the subprime boom; then almost overnight the industry and more than 4,000 good paying jobs vanished. The former headquarters of New Century Financial in Irvine, Calif., pictured here on April 2, 2007, the day the company filed for bankruptcy. IRVINE, Calif. (CNNMoney.com) — The subprime mortgage meltdown [...]

Subprime loans were initially aimed at people with weak credit. But by 2005 and 2006, lenders encouraged many types of better-off borrowers to take such loans, including people with large incomes who chose to speculate on the real estate market. But many subprime loans were made to refinance lower income borrowers who already owned homes, which [...]

"The problem is, the servicer doesn't have the power to renegotiate a loan," said Erin Kemple, the Connecticut Fair Housing Center's Executive Director. "Because they don't actually own the loan [they can't] make changes to the payment plan."This is not what we typically encounter. The lender/servicers DO NO WANT your home and DO WANT to work out an affordable payment plan. Please give us the opportunity to save your home for you! As I have stated before here & here. Don't rely on government agencies to help you when they have no stake in the outcome.With an apparent stalemate between lenders and borrowers, will people be forced to go into foreclosure or even to just walk away?"Yes," said Connecticut Fair Housing's Erin Kemple. "The simple answer is yes." Don't give up! As Donald Trump

If you are like thousands of Connecticut parents then you have no idea how the subprime mortgage real estate collapse and student loans are related. You probably would not know that the mortgage banks that were giving out hundred thousand dollar mortgages with adjustable rate mortgages without verifying income may now impact your childs ability to get money for a Connecticut college or nationwide university. <br><Br>Let me explain this in plain English.<br><br>When you take out a mortgage loan from a bank that bank turns around and sells your mortgage to another company. They do this because they get a fee from the buying bank in exchange for giving up future mortgage payments from you the consumer. That is why you get a notice in the mail that says your mortgage ha

The latest opinion polls make grim reading for the government. YouGov have the Conservative sixteen percentage points ahead and ICM nine. While it appears the YouGov result is somewhat anomalous, it does appear that the Conservative Party is forging a real lead among the electorate. Even typical upswings towards the end of a term will not save the Labour Party.The primary reason for this anti-Labour sentiment appears to be the economy. The risk of recession and general international economic gloom has predictably pushed voters away from Labour. It is an unfortunate reality that the government is responsible for something it has limited control over. When the economy is doing well due to international factors and domestic strength, the government will reap electoral dividends even if its ro

I knew it was bound to happen, the Subprime mess being what it is. The ripple-effects of the great Mortgage Meltdown is starting to be felt far and wide. It's most recent victims? Renters. Articles are starting to appear across various news sources about how investors that have overextended themselves, gorging on [...]

By Stanley White and Kosuke GotoMarch 17, BloombergThe dollar slumped below 96 yen for the first time in 12 years after the Federal Reserve cut its discount interest rate and financed the bailout of Bear Stearns Cos. by JPMorgan Chase & Co.The dollar also dropped to a record low against the euro and the Swiss franc as the Fed lowered the rate it charges commercial banks for loans by a quarter percentage point to 3.25 percent to ensure ``orderly market functioning.'' Traders increased bets the Fed will slash its benchmark target rate by 1 percentage point tomorrow, making fixed-income securities issued by the U.S. government less appealing to global investors.``The dollar is facing a credibility crisis,'' said Koji Fukaya, a senior currency strategist at Deutsche Securities, the Tokyo u

The housing market increasingly gloomy, Rich Uncle Pennybags — better known as Mr. Monopoly — announced Friday afternoon he intends to pursue stricter lending regulations. “Lax and excessive lending policies have affected our end game for too long,” Pennybags said during an appearance at Marvin Gardens. “We believe these changes will keep those without a $500 bill [...]

A major argument about fixing the mortgage crisis is the issue of culpability: is the collapse in housing and credit due to speculative borrowers or greedy lenders? When I've asked this question of people who worked in the mortgage business, the answer, somewhat to my surprise, pointed to other brokers who engaged in questionable practices. This is an important distinction, because any government bailout will only be palatable to the American people if borrowers can be portrayed as victims. And that's just what a story in Newsweek does:Over the last six months the public has learned much about the business of subprime lending, the practice that put millions of Americans with low credit scores into homes—which many may soon lose to foreclosure. Richard Bitne

Standard and Poor’s said today that they feel that the bulk of the subprime pill has already been swallowed and “the end of write-downs is now in sight for large financial institutions.” However, they still believe this will be offset by worsening problems in the real estate market and other segments of the credit markets. The main areas of focus for me today are the 1324-1326 level to see if

S&P has issued a report today noting that the subprime writedowns could reach $285 Billion, which is higher than the $265 Billion it noted before. But there is... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The nation's top economic policy makers plan to release today their broadest blueprint yet for avoiding a recurrence of the credit crunch now threatening the economy. Their recommendations extend to nearly every niche in the credit markets -- from mortgage brokers to the Wall Street firms that package home loans into securities, to the credit-rating firms that assess the risk of those securities, to the regulators who police the system. Amid the housing market's deepening slump, mounting defaults by cash-strapped homeowners and an upswing in foreclosures have made investors wary of mortgage-linked securities and have made those securities increasingly difficult to value and trade. That's led to turmoil in global financial markets. "We aren't singling out any group of market participan

The most common phrase now associated with finance companies is: "We are happy to cooperate with the ongoing investigation." However, as the Bush administration's Justice Department has turned a blind eye to wire fraud, mail fraud, RICO and extortion by corporate contributors, those corporate PR flacks are talking more and more about civil investigations, not criminal prosecutions. Civil

It seems that the continuing Subprime mess is about to get messier. With Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARM) for Subprime borrowers adjusting this quarter, the economy definitely showing signs of recession (first job cutbacks in 5 years, foreign investment in U.S. dollars and bonds down) it's no wonder that everyone's starting to think the sky [...]

We have our first submission for the series on “Predatory / Subprime Advertisement”. The advertisement has been modified so that it won’t show names or phone numbers. Although the anonymous person that submitted this real estate ad from San Jose thought that this was a predatory advertisement, I don’t necessarily think that it is. However, I do [...]

Tenemos nuestra primera publicidad para la serie de articulos en la categoria “Publicidad Abusiva / Subprime”. La publicidad a sido modificada para no indicar nombres o numero de telefonos. Aunque la persona, decidio ser anonima, que envio esta publicidad de bienes raices en San Jose piensa que este era publicidad abusiva, yo no necesariamente pienso que lo [...]

The Hope Now group said Monday it helped 638,000 subprime borrowers from mid-2007 through the end of January, an increase of 93,000 from 545,000 a month earlier. That works out to 9 percent of 7.1 million subprime loans that were outstanding as of last fall, up from 8 percent through December.Critics say the effort, organized by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, falls short of what is needed to resolve a financial crisis that is threatening millions of families with the loss of their homes. (As I've stated before -don't loose your home while waiting for government to save you- Save yourself!!) They want a government-funded effort to buy up troubled loans and restructure them.Consumer groups say many borrowers still can't keep up, even after loan workouts. They say many of the borrowers in

The Massachusetts Attorney General obtained a preliminary injunction against California based Fremont General and Fremont Investment and Loan ("Fremont"), a subprime lender that originated thousands of risky loans in Massachusetts. Risky loans significantly contributed to the foreclosure crisis and Massachusetts is holding Freemont up to scrutiny for possible illegal acts. The order prohibits

Emily Parker, WSJ, has a report which shows that Wall Street has no idea of what subprime lending means. So who does? That would be Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and his microfinance model, which has now opened shop in New York, in the form of Grameen America. Mr. Yunus, along with his Bangladesh-originated Grameen Bank, won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for battling poverty by lending out

Due to the ongoing subprime fiasco many banks and financial institutions are in the process of redefining how they assess risk. As an investor I find it hard to believe that these major financial players could have miscalculated risk to the degree that it now has some of them teetering on bankruptcy while potentially throwing the U.S into a recession. Personally, I’m hoping that they knew the risk and were just greedy. As an investor the greed argument is much more reassuring than the notion that almost all of the major financial players in the U.S do not have the ability to accurately assess risk, and therefore were investing in products that they didn’t understand.Recently Citigroup Chairman Win Bischoff was quoted as saying “managing risk within a bank is not just a matter of rely

Borrowers, investors and other plaintiffs filed 278 civil lawsuits in federal courts related to subprime lending in 2007, and the trend is expected to continue this year, according to the report released on Thursday. Last year's subprime tally was equal to about half of the 559 legal actions brought over a multiple-year period following the savings and loan crisis, according to the report by Navigant Consulting Inc. The subprime fallout has frequently been compared with that of the S&L crisis, which cost the government more than $100 billion. "The S&L crisis has been a high-water mark in terms of the litigation fallout of a major financial crisis," said Jeff Nielsen, managing director of Navigant, which provides business, regulatory and financial advisory services. "The subprime-relate

Due to the ongoing subprime fiasco many banks and financial institutions are in the process of redefining how they assess risk. As an investor I find it hard to believe that these major financial players could have miscalculated risk to the degree that it now has some of them teetering on bankruptcy while potentially throwing the U.S into a recession. Personally, I’m hoping that they knew the risk and were just greedy. As an investor the greed argument is much more reassuring than the notion that almost all of the major financial players in the U.S do not have the ability to accurately assess risk, and therefore were investing in products that they didn’t understand.Recently Citigroup Chairman Win Bischoff was quoted as saying “managing risk within a bank is not just a matter of rely

I did a little searching and found a chart showing when many sub prime ARM loans will reset. The chart shows that in about 6 months we should see a reprieve in the number of loans going into foreclosure and we will all start trying to put this crisis behind us. [...]

JP Morgan Chase reports $1.3 billion in markdowns on subprime positions and an rapid increase in higher credit costs. Following Citigroup's $18.1 billion subprime markdown it appears that JP Morgan's writedown will be well recevied by the market.

From AFPNEW YORK (AFP) — US banking colossus Citigroup said Tuesday it had raised 14.5 billion dollars in fresh capital, including nearly seven billion from the government of Singapore, as it seeks to shore up finances stricken by the US housing crisis.Other investors included the Kuwait Investment Authority, long-time Citigroup investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia and former Citigroup chief executive Sanford Weill among others.Executives said the bank was also offering two billion dollars in new securities which would boost the total amount of fresh capital raised to over 14 billion dollars.Citigroup unveiled its new backers as it also revealed a fourth-quarter net loss of 9.83 billion dollars, and net income for 2007 of 3.62 billion dollars.Citigroup needs f

From AFPWASHINGTON (AFP) — US mortgage lenders targeted minorities and people with low incomes in recent years as the "best candidates" for subprime home loans, with devastating economic consequences, a report claimed Tuesday.The report by the United for a Fair Economy (UFE) advocacy group said subprime mortgages, home loans issued to Americans with scant finances, were "ruthlessly hawked" and that a "solid majority of subprime loan recipients were people of color."Hundreds of thousands of families lost their homes to foreclosure last year after failing to keep up with mortgage payments, a hefty chunk of which were subprime loans, amid a national housing downturn that shows no sign of easing.Some economists believe the almost two-year-long housing slump could pitch the world's largest ec

In today's Wall Street Journal, reporter Glenn Simpson wrote a terrific page one story outlining the subprime lending industry's enormous influence on Congress and various state legislatures. It used that influence, of course, to ensure that the Feds and important states did not pass legislation that would have limited subprime lenders' ability to continue to make loans under ludicrously lax standards. That influence was purchased through concerted, expensive lobbying efforts as well as with direct contributions to many dozens of entities including state politicians, both major parties' national committees, and even President Bush.The industry was ensuring that it could go on making the very loans to otherwise unqualified borrowers who today are defaulting in droves, sending shock waves do

Interesting article on Reuters.com Californians say mortgage freeze plan little help STOCKTON, California (Reuters) - Inundated by a flood of home mortgage foreclosures, and bracing for more interest rate rises, many struggling Californian borrowers see little aid from a Bush administration-backed plan to help them keep their homes. “We’re all just a paycheck away from being out on the street,” said Stockton resident Trudy Crawford, who said she can no longer afford payments on her two-year-old house since a recent death in the family.

From Chicago TribuneMorgan Stanley on Wednesday reported a $9.4 billion write-down from bad bets on mortgage-related debt, leading to the first quarterly loss in its 73-year history, and said it was taking a $5 billion infusion from an arm of the Chinese government.The write-down, nearly triple what Morgan Stanley warned of in November, pushed the investment house to a fourth-quarter net loss of $3.59 billion, or $3.61 a share, compared with a profit of $2.21 billion, or $2.08 a share, a year earlier. Analysts expected a loss of 39 cents a share for the latest period.Morgan Stanley reported negative net revenue of $450 million because of the write-downs, compared with revenue of $7.85 billion a year ago.Morgan Stanley is the latest Wall Street firm to be punished by the unfolding credit crisis and to be forced to reach out to a foreign government for a major investment to shore up its books. Major global banks have lost $100 billion in the past six months alone."This quarter will put [

Bush Praises Subprime Mortgage Strategy President Bush says it is “going to take a while to work through this mortgage bubble,” but that his administration does have a strategy for helping subprime borrowers refinance or restructure their mortgages. Bush said in a speech on the economy that the Treasury Department has worked with mortgage servicers so borrowers don’t “get pinched as their interest rates reset”. He also noted that the Federal Housing Administration is helping to refinance subprime borrowers and could do more if Congress passes an FHA modernization bill. (The Senate just passed such a bill, which now has to be reconciled with the House version). Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan has suggested that the federal government could provide cash assistance for distressed homeowners who can't afford their mortgage payments. Mr. Bush stressed in his speech that he is against bailouts for lenders, speculators, and people who bou

Bloomberg reports that the Federal Reserve will make it tougher for lenders to impose fees for early repayment of subprime home loans. Fed staff, with input from policy makers, will propose as many as four new requirements for lenders...They may also set two new standards for disclosure...The staff memorandum will also probably recommend lenders be forced to include property taxes and insurance

As the subprime debacle has unfolded many of these bonds have lost most of their value with hedge funds like the Goldman Sach global alpha fund loosing over 60% at one point. The question is currently have these bonds been oversold. For most investors this is a non issue since retail invstors cannot access these [...]