Mortgage Czar sounds like a pretty cushy gig ... ride around DC in a long black limo, plus you get to travel to exotic locales on the taxpayers dime. As long as you don't mind the occasional speeches and policy meetings, I say take it Tanta.
We are beginning to see the frenzy calm down," the former chairman of the Federal Reserve told a conference in Lisbon. "Unless we get secondary effects the worst is over."
Yogi Berra would be proud. 'It's over unless it isn't over.
I strongly support Tanta as Mortgage Czar (tm) and will provide a statement for the confirmation process. I also look for CR and bacon dreamz to be on staff.
Alan: Andrea, how is your pork roast? Do you want more wine?
Andrea: It's lovely Al. How is yours?
Alan: A little tough don't you think?
Andrea: What did you do today?
Alan: I'm still signing those fucking books you know. If I sell a million books we get extra bucks for our golden years.
Andrea: Your golden years Al. I'm still working don't you know! They aren't going to push me out like they did Dan. What a raw deal. I'd die if they replaced me with cunt Katie.
Alan: You always have hated her.
Andrea: Speaking of bitchy broads with brains I think Tanta over at Calculated Risk blog would make a fabulous mortgage czar for Mitt. Don't you Al?
Alan: I don't know. I haven't heard much about Tanta except that blog sure is helping book sales Oy Vey!
Andrea: Well after your book schlepping slows down I want you to contact Tanta and give her some tips on working the DC crowd.
CR + gang,
A note from your neighbor up north - Ventura county.
In my neck of the woods, Newbury Park, with a mix of homes from low to very high-end, here's a snapshot of activity...
140 single-family homes listed on the MLS below $1M; only 2 of these being pending sales & more than 50 of the homes vacant! Some of these are co-listed as rentals, but this is past the prime summer rental season.
Amgen just announced 675 layoffs in Thousand Oaks. Many who reside in NP work there. Countrywide, I hear, is continuing its reductions in Westlake, Agoura & Calabasas, and this cannot help either (regardless of how many of their mortgage consultants appear in deserted open houses).
Some price reduction activity is being forced by the arriviste short seller. I estimate about 20 homes, with more coming on every week.
I just received a mailing from a realty office, one cleverly disguised as a newspaper, with articles claiming that the shrill media are out to destroy our way of life, and don't worry, any talk of a bubble is totally undeserved, just look at that rising median (actually falling in Ventura county) and all those happy buyers and sellers! And then they list homes that have been sold, but when I checked on the MLS, these were all sales from last year!
RUN!! Run like the wind dear Tanta! These faux friends would link you with the beast that shall lay us all low. Cauz this MF'er gots 2nd and 3rd winds that gonna kick da stuffin out dat market. LAWD A MERZY!!! be burnin down the house....
"We are beginning to see the frenzy calm down," the former chairman of the Federal Reserve told a conference in Lisbon. "Unless we get secondary effects the worst is over."
See this is silly. Greenspan admits that he intentionally says things in public that are intended to be confusing or outright misleading.
I don't understand the rationalization behind this policy.
"Unless we get secondary effects the worst is over."
ATTENTION: THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN.
WHILE THIS UNEXPECTED LOSS OF BOTH OUR WINGS MAY COMPROMISE THE 747'S FLIGHT PERFORMANCE, WE URGE PASSENGERS NOT TO BECOME OVERLY CONCERNED.
WE ARE STILL AT AN ALTITUDE OF 35,000 FT AND COMFORTABLY ABOVE ANY DANGER.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL HAS JUST REASSURED ME THAT THERE WILL BE NO SERIOUS PROBLEMS UNLESS WE HIT THE GROUND.
are you a resident? i dont know of the "starlet" but am curious to know what others in the area feel about current conditions. i just moved here a few months ago (renting) since its next to MuguSP where I test mountain bikes.
Cpt. Edward John Smith: Should be fine the worst is over. Unless there are any bad secondary effects to poor bulk head design, or insufficient lifeboat provisioning.
I'm just gonna silently hope he does more for for troubled borrowers then the Drug Czar did for the War on Drugs and the War Czar did for the the Iraqi War.
Maybe our Czars will start meeting together? "Today, the Czars announced a tri-partisan plan that would refinance troubled borrowers into an affordable fixed-rate mortgage if they pass a drug test and agree to 4 years of voluntary military service."
I think that Tanta's nasty habit of focusing on the facts would make her utterly unsuited for any sort of political position. David Lereah will probably get the position.
Tanta is already the Delphic Oracle of the mortgage industry.
ot a resident...
once upon a time... freqeunted the bedroom community... thought it lovely... but as far as you could get from LA, and not have to go down the hill to ventura...
djeem, you have my dream job.
am curious to know what others in the area feel about current conditions.
Just down the road your neighbor David Murdoch seems to be doing just fine. His lawn is green and koi pond is crystal clear. And despite his driveway being 1/2 mile long there were no squatters living on the grounds.
From FFDIC's link: Regulation typically provides a mechanism to smooth out the capital market process, but when regulation is lacking, market self-correction is the only backstop. I believe turmoil in the recent U.S. mortgage markets is the direct result of not enough regulatory oversight in places where it was needed most.
...
The result was that underwriting was determined not by risk assessment but by whatever would sell in the securitization markets. The bottom line dictated market activities. As a former community banker, this type of thinking is anathema to me and I imagine it is to you as well.
Another one just talked himself out of the Mortgage Tsar position.
This is absurd but sadly unsurprising. The foreclosure process is merely an adjustment process. If people can't afford to stay in the homes because of poor financial management or just plain bad luck, they still gotta move. They go and rent, which is what they should have done in the first place, perhaps.
There are systems in place, such as the bankruptcy courts, consumer credit counseling and the like to allow for these adjustments. The excesses are corrected by this process, however unpleasant it is. Lenders will likely find that forebearance and note modifications will likely be options they may want to consider.
What is needed as a counter-balance is govie sponsored FHA 125% LTV refinance programs to get people out of all the 2/28 adjustables that will hammer some folks who would have otherwise been able to afford the payments. That and note modifications will help some. Even if these come through, there will still be pain. If they don't,expect a scenario resembling the 30's.
These are the two choices. Inflation or deflation. Read up on the effects of deflation and most would likely opt for inflation.
Regulators are watching for signs that the financial industry is developing solutions to clear the backlog of unsold leveraged loans. They hope the decline in leveraged loan prices will attract new investors and stabilise sentiment.
When we start seeing innovation on how to fix the problem and bring in new investors, it will be a good sign that things are turning, said one regulator.
However, one issue that some investors and regulators are watching carefully is whether any sales of loans will be true transactions, at genuine market prices or will be conducted at artificial rates, as part of a bigger commercial transaction, to flatter bank balance sheets.
Another issue is whether the banks will be tempted to create new off-balance sheet vehicles to hold troubled assets. One banker denied the new special purpose funds could be considered off-balance sheet vehicles. This is not an off-balance sheet technique. It is about raising a fund something we do all the time to buy these assets definitively...
OT:
While the Chinese Stock Market is on a WEEK long vacation, people have got busy in Hong Kong - The Hang Seng's stunning reversal ( 5% from peak to trough, o:28.1K, H: 28.9, L: 27.2, C: 27.5 ) yesterday was amazing ! Wtf is going to happen in China when the market reopens on Monday ?
I've never followed a market that closes down for a whole week - and with such local volatility around them - I really feel for the market players in China - quite apart from the withdrawal symptoms they must be going through( a weekend is quite long enough for me!)
Looks like their wish: May you live in interesting times is coming true.
sk - I was thinking the same and if the US takes a hit this week while the Chinese are making egg foo yung all week it is going to be a very interesting opening day there. zai jian.
I almost forgot. There is a War Czar...this guy: Bush Taps New 'War Czar' - ABC News
who looks like he might have w's missing military records in his chops.
Now if only Tanta worked at the Pentagon, this would be such a natural appointment...
"Maybe our Czars will start meeting together? "Today, the Czars announced a tri-partisan plan that would refinance troubled borrowers into an affordable fixed-rate mortgage if they pass a drug test and agree to 4 years of voluntary military service."
gng"
Today, the Czars announced a tri-partisan plan that would refinance troubled borrowers into an affordable fixed-rate mortgage. Following Hitlers plan of leibensraum, and mixing it with Shrubboy's desire to bring Dumbocracy to the middle east, they have announced full loan forgiveness to any peasant who will take a 30 year fixed rate in Iraq.
Mortgage Tsar: With this grand plan we solve two problems.
One, distressed homedebtors are now put into homes that are way more affordable. Secondly Iraqis are exposed to the culture of dumbocracy brought in by Joe Ultra-Light sixpack, his wife Jane soccer mom, and the cute little brats. Its a win-win situation.
"I almost forgot. There is a War Czar...this guy: ABC News - ABC News? id=3176644
who looks like he might have w's missing military records in his chops.
Now if only Tanta worked at the Pentagon, this would be such a natural appointment...
calmo "
This czar issue is designed to position the Democrats as more caring and competent on the issue. It won't accomplish a damn thing in the real world.
But politically, it's shrewd.
You are seeing the implosion of the Republican Party in the U.S. A short while from now, the next election will be almost over, on most levels. The Republicans just keep kicking key issues and votes out the window especially minorities, mothers, and rank-and-file workers being displaced by cheap foreign imports/labor.
Big tax increases are coming for the rich and corporations, along with universal health care and trade barriers higher than in decades. Wall Street won't like it one bit.
You can argue all you want about Hillary's flaws, but it doesn't matter. It's not about her or Democrats. They're just taking the gifts they are being given and trying not to screw them up.
"and rank-and-file workers being displaced by cheap foreign imports/labor."
Oh come now. That is just blatantly stupid partisan talk. The Duborats have been trying to ram through an amnesty for nigh on to two years.
"Big tax increases are coming for the rich and corporations,"
Ol' Hilary Rotten doesn't want higher taxes on her bank rollers in NYC. She wants higher taxes on the upper middle class. To push them back down to peasant status. It keeps the income gap wide.
"with universal health care"
No such thing...but it will surely implode the debt bubble. No such thing as in TANSTAAFL:
"ou can argue all you want about Hillary's flaws, but it doesn't matter. It's not about her or Democrats. They're just taking the gifts they are being given and trying not to screw them up."
But last week a group of banks, including Citi, sold about half the $15bn loan package for KKRs takeover of First Data Corporation at lower losses than many observers had expected.
That number just keeps getting smaller...
However, one issue that some investors and regulators are watching carefully is whether any sales of loans will be true transactions, at genuine market prices or will be conducted at artificial rates, as part of a bigger commercial transaction, to flatter bank balance sheets.
"You are seeing the implosion of the Republican Party in the U.S. A short while from now, the next election will be almost over, on most levels. The Republicans just keep kicking key issues and votes out the window especially minorities, mothers, and rank-and-file workers being displaced by cheap foreign imports/labor."
Hard turn left toward socialism, goverment jobs for all.
Naw dude, this time 'round the gov't will insist they be kept around till after Christmas. Fire 'em all after they do their "patriotic" duty of going into deeper debt to help the economy. Then the new bankruptcy laws kick in...and the credit card debt they used to buy all those presents can be made to look like a purposeful attempt to defraud lenders.
"With Banco Wal-Mart we will be able to complement the services we provide to the segment of the population that currently lacks the benefits of having accessible banking services," said Wal-Mart de Mexico's chief executive Eduardo Solorzano.
It is the second retailer to gain entry to Mexico's banking sector.
In 2002, Mexican retail and financial services group Elekra was given permission to launch a banking operation - leading to the foundation of Banco Azteca.
Until earlier this year, Wal-Mart had planned to create an in-house bank in the US, known as an industrial loan corporation (ILC).
However, in February it decided to withdraw its the application with the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corp - a government finance watchdog.
Wal-Mart's plans had been firmly opposed by unions, consumer groups and some state-level banks who believed the move would threaten local businesses.
However, Wal-Mart said it had no plans to open branches or offer banking services to consumers and that its plan had been "surrounded by manufactured controversy".
Anyone who thinks KKR will not extract several pounds of flesh from Citi in the form of cheap sale prices for the purchased loans, and sweetheart terms on the financing just doesn't get it. This unit of KKR is in the business of owning securities like these. Citi? Not so much. There isn't anything nefarious going on here, there couldn't be, this is waaaay too visible. Citi is asking to get bailed out, at bail out prices, and is willing to provide financing to do so. Providing financing is the business Citi is in.
As usual, people are asking the wrong question. The better question is have Citi, ML and the rest overdone the markdowns so as to build up profit in the current quarter. After all, everyone knew the markdowns wewre coming so why not make them as deep as is defensible? Lots of folks here were calling for them to be marked at zero after all
Nobody answered my question - is Barefoot Bankhead (in another CR's post) a real name?
He's listed on the staff list at his firm. No picture though. Maybe he was having lunch at Shoeless Joe's. 404 Not Found
Thank you for your interest in the position of Mortgage Czar, Ms. Tanta. While your experience is certainly remarkable, we fear your wit and clarity make you unsuitable for this position. I hear the Department of Homeland Security is accepting applications.
Either way we lose, don't we? Hyper-inflation is a risk but deflation seems to be a bigger one. General consumer price inflation will cause wages to rise at the same time home prices fall, perhaps meeting in the middle.
This is what happened during the 70's and 80's and seems to be the most likely scenario. Debtors do benefit during inflation and creditors are hurt but considering the many of our creditors are foreign investors perhaps the powers that be have a plan?
Wars are no longer fought with bullets my friend...
I thought a frenzy was synonomous with hyperactivity...
the credit crunh i read about was the opposite... a freeze.. a chill..
a no bid market...
that AG guy, so D*** confusing...
speak with fork tongue
Mortgage Czar sounds like a pretty cushy gig ... ride around DC in a long black limo, plus you get to travel to exotic locales on the taxpayers dime. As long as you don't mind the occasional speeches and policy meetings, I say take it Tanta.
Just don't forget about the rabble here on CR.
Excellent choice comrades!
I drink much vodka to your victorious success to come! May no deadbeat homedebtors nor corrupt appraisors, nor Bush bailout plans stop you!
A Mortgage Czar, talk about overreaction to a situation.
However Greenspan is right, the fast fall is over and a gradual decline is going to continue for the next year an a half.
www.dcmetrocentric.com
Samantha
why does washington always appoint a czar to problems they can't fix
Our friendly neighborhood Kudlow imposter has a point, can anyone name the drug czar from the 80's?
BTW, if Tanta were to get the position, that would make her Mortgage Czarina, would it not?
wouldn't that be Mortgage Czarina?
If there is a mortgage Czar, can he or she order the arrest and decapitation of the Toll brothers?
looks like the central scrutinizer has beaten me to it.
We are beginning to see the frenzy calm down," the former chairman of the Federal Reserve told a conference in Lisbon. "Unless we get secondary effects the worst is over."
Yogi Berra would be proud. 'It's over unless it isn't over.
Let's campaign for Tanta! I say we pass out green rubber bracelets with her name on them...
I think AG meant, "The worst of what we've seen is behind us".
I strongly support Tanta as Mortgage Czar (tm) and will provide a statement for the confirmation process. I also look for CR and bacon dreamz to be on staff.
Alan: Andrea, how is your pork roast? Do you want more wine?
Andrea: It's lovely Al. How is yours?
Alan: A little tough don't you think?
Andrea: What did you do today?
Alan: I'm still signing those fucking books you know. If I sell a million books we get extra bucks for our golden years.
Andrea: Your golden years Al. I'm still working don't you know! They aren't going to push me out like they did Dan. What a raw deal. I'd die if they replaced me with cunt Katie.
Alan: You always have hated her.
Andrea: Speaking of bitchy broads with brains I think Tanta over at Calculated Risk blog would make a fabulous mortgage czar for Mitt. Don't you Al?
Alan: I don't know. I haven't heard much about Tanta except that blog sure is helping book sales Oy Vey!
Andrea: Well after your book schlepping slows down I want you to contact Tanta and give her some tips on working the DC crowd.
Alan: Okay hon. Lets order dessert.
However Greenspan is right, the fast fall is over...
Hi Samantha,
The most recently released data on contracts pending from the NAR do look quite encouraging, don't they?
Not much to really worry about now with foreclosures, especially with housing going into it's perennial Winter coma.
It's going to be a blockbuster Spring!
I cannot go along with this charade; I could only accept Tanta as a mortgage Tsar!
I get images of Cate Blanchet when Frodo offers her the ring.
why does Washington always appoint a czar to problems they can't fix
The czar can't fix them either, it's just a cushy job for some ex-political hack who didn't get re-elected and needs a little spending money.
Gov't interference in the markets created this mess. Creating a mortgage Tsarina would only make things worse.
Remember power corrupts.
YouTube -
Cheers,
TG,
We're on the same wave link.
Cheers,
A free calendar depicting Fabergé Eggs with every new account !
Tsarina Tanta has a nice ring.
off topic, apologies...
CR + gang,
A note from your neighbor up north - Ventura county.
In my neck of the woods, Newbury Park, with a mix of homes from low to very high-end, here's a snapshot of activity...
140 single-family homes listed on the MLS below $1M; only 2 of these being pending sales & more than 50 of the homes vacant! Some of these are co-listed as rentals, but this is past the prime summer rental season.
Amgen just announced 675 layoffs in Thousand Oaks. Many who reside in NP work there. Countrywide, I hear, is continuing its reductions in Westlake, Agoura & Calabasas, and this cannot help either (regardless of how many of their mortgage consultants appear in deserted open houses).
Some price reduction activity is being forced by the arriviste short seller. I estimate about 20 homes, with more coming on every week.
I just received a mailing from a realty office, one cleverly disguised as a newspaper, with articles claiming that the shrill media are out to destroy our way of life, and don't worry, any talk of a bubble is totally undeserved, just look at that rising median (actually falling in Ventura county) and all those happy buyers and sellers! And then they list homes that have been sold, but when I checked on the MLS, these were all sales from last year!
'til tomorrow...
djeem
.
Sorry everyone but I think Angelo Mozilo has already been hired for the job.
Bloomberg.com
RUN!! Run like the wind dear Tanta! These faux friends would link you with the beast that shall lay us all low. Cauz this MF'er gots 2nd and 3rd winds that gonna kick da stuffin out dat market. LAWD A MERZY!!! be burnin down the house....
Tanta should be editor of the Baltimore Sun. She could raise more righteous hell there.
Nobody answered my question - is Barefoot Bankhead (in another CR's post) a real name ?
Misean,
your post has much more style.
"We are beginning to see the frenzy calm down," the former chairman of the Federal Reserve told a conference in Lisbon. "Unless we get secondary effects the worst is over."
See this is silly. Greenspan admits that he intentionally says things in public that are intended to be confusing or outright misleading.
I don't understand the rationalization behind this policy.
"Unless we get secondary effects the worst is over."
ATTENTION: THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN.
WHILE THIS UNEXPECTED LOSS OF BOTH OUR WINGS MAY COMPROMISE THE 747'S FLIGHT PERFORMANCE, WE URGE PASSENGERS NOT TO BECOME OVERLY CONCERNED.
WE ARE STILL AT AN ALTITUDE OF 35,000 FT AND COMFORTABLY ABOVE ANY DANGER.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL HAS JUST REASSURED ME THAT THERE WILL BE NO SERIOUS PROBLEMS UNLESS WE HIT THE GROUND.
hey , newbury park...childhood home of soap tv's hottest starlet... heather locklear
WE ARE STILL AT AN ALTITUDE OF 35,000 FT AND COMFORTABLY ABOVE ANY DANGER
break out the champagne
Barefoot Bankhead (in another CR's post) a real name ?
Troll Brothers | 10.03.07 - 10:24 pm
google it
star-g
are you a resident? i dont know of the "starlet" but am curious to know what others in the area feel about current conditions. i just moved here a few months ago (renting) since its next to MuguSP where I test mountain bikes.
ac,
Yeah, or:
Ensign: Captain we've hit an iceberg
Cpt. Edward John Smith: Should be fine the worst is over. Unless there are any bad secondary effects to poor bulk head design, or insufficient lifeboat provisioning.
Cheers,
Remarks of John M. Reich, Director
Office of Thrift Supervision
To the British Bankers' Association
London, England October 3, 2007
http://www.ots.treas.gov/docs/8/87148.pdf
A Mortgage Czar?
I'm just gonna silently hope he does more for for troubled borrowers then the Drug Czar did for the War on Drugs and the War Czar did for the the Iraqi War.
Maybe our Czars will start meeting together? "Today, the Czars announced a tri-partisan plan that would refinance troubled borrowers into an affordable fixed-rate mortgage if they pass a drug test and agree to 4 years of voluntary military service."
I think that Tanta's nasty habit of focusing on the facts would make her utterly unsuited for any sort of political position. David Lereah will probably get the position.
Tanta is already the Delphic Oracle of the mortgage industry.
ot a resident...
once upon a time... freqeunted the bedroom community... thought it lovely... but as far as you could get from LA, and not have to go down the hill to ventura...
djeem, you have my dream job.
am curious to know what others in the area feel about current conditions.
Just down the road your neighbor David Murdoch seems to be doing just fine. His lawn is green and koi pond is crystal clear. And despite his driveway being 1/2 mile long there were no squatters living on the grounds.
From FFDIC's link:
Regulation typically provides a mechanism to smooth out the capital market process, but when regulation is lacking, market self-correction is the only backstop. I believe turmoil in the recent U.S. mortgage markets is the direct result of not enough regulatory oversight in places where it was needed most.
...
The result was that underwriting was determined not by risk assessment but by whatever would sell in the securitization markets. The bottom line dictated market activities. As a former community banker, this type of thinking is anathema to me and I imagine it is to you as well.
Another one just talked himself out of the Mortgage Tsar position.
Less Harm Than Feared at Largest German Bank - Deutsche Bank to write down $3.1 billion...
Less Harm Than Feared At Largest German Bank - NY Times
Telegraph UK
Meltdown costs Deutsche Bank..
Meltdown costs Deutsche Bank €2.2bn - Telegraph
Guardian - Deutsche Bank shrugs off sub-prime
Deutsche Bank shrugs off sub-prime |
Business |
guardian.co.uk
FT.com Deutsche and Merrill latest credit victims
FT.com / Financials - Deutsche and Merrill latest credit victims
If there is a mortgage Czar, can he or she order the arrest and decapitation of the Toll brothers?
WWPTGD?
(Peter the Great)
This is absurd but sadly unsurprising. The foreclosure process is merely an adjustment process. If people can't afford to stay in the homes because of poor financial management or just plain bad luck, they still gotta move. They go and rent, which is what they should have done in the first place, perhaps.
There are systems in place, such as the bankruptcy courts, consumer credit counseling and the like to allow for these adjustments. The excesses are corrected by this process, however unpleasant it is. Lenders will likely find that forebearance and note modifications will likely be options they may want to consider.
What is needed as a counter-balance is govie sponsored FHA 125% LTV refinance programs to get people out of all the 2/28 adjustables that will hammer some folks who would have otherwise been able to afford the payments. That and note modifications will help some. Even if these come through, there will still be pain. If they don't,expect a scenario resembling the 30's.
These are the two choices. Inflation or deflation. Read up on the effects of deflation and most would likely opt for inflation.
Nobody answered my question - is Barefoot Bankhead (in another CR's post) a real name ?
check back there. Someone seems to know the gentleman, assuming they're not kidding. Don't forget Increase Mather, Learned Hand, Cleanth Brooks, etc.
OT
Any comments on HRB's pulled warehouse lines?
CitiMortgage to set aside $200 million for mortgages in DC area test project...(and get the DC heat off)
Mortgages For Those Who Lack Credit Data - washingtonpost.com
Citi talks to KKR about leveraged debt
Regulators are watching for signs that the financial industry is developing solutions to clear the backlog of unsold leveraged loans. They hope the decline in leveraged loan prices will attract new investors and stabilise sentiment.
When we start seeing innovation on how to fix the problem and bring in new investors, it will be a good sign that things are turning, said one regulator.
However, one issue that some investors and regulators are watching carefully is whether any sales of loans will be true transactions, at genuine market prices or will be conducted at artificial rates, as part of a bigger commercial transaction, to flatter bank balance sheets.
Another issue is whether the banks will be tempted to create new off-balance sheet vehicles to hold troubled assets. One banker denied the new special purpose funds could be considered off-balance sheet vehicles. This is not an off-balance sheet technique. It is about raising a fund something we do all the time to buy these assets definitively...
FT.com / Financials - Citi talks to KKR about leveraged debt
I think they had a mis print. They hope the decline in leveraged loan prices will attract new bagholders. That's better.
OT:
While the Chinese Stock Market is on a WEEK long vacation, people have got busy in Hong Kong - The Hang Seng's stunning reversal ( 5% from peak to trough, o:28.1K, H: 28.9, L: 27.2, C: 27.5 ) yesterday was amazing ! Wtf is going to happen in China when the market reopens on Monday ?
I've never followed a market that closes down for a whole week - and with such local volatility around them - I really feel for the market players in China - quite apart from the withdrawal symptoms they must be going through( a weekend is quite long enough for me!)
Looks like their wish: May you live in interesting times is coming true.
-K
"most would likely opt for inflation."
That because most of these dumb asses are up to their neck in debt. Maybe you should read up on hyperinflation.
sk - I was thinking the same and if the US takes a hit this week while the Chinese are making egg foo yung all week it is going to be a very interesting opening day there. zai jian.
CitiMortgage to set aside $200 million for mortgages in DC area test project...(and get the DC heat off)
Gosh willikers does this mean no marches on the Capitial?
Pathetic! C is pandering IMHO some well placed calls to avoid a PR disaster.
Spin: CA left out in the cold as Washinton and its friends isolate and contain the damages.
Spin: Citi protects Washinton public security and the nations elected Reps of the Senate by consoling local voters.
Spin: Citi launches program to aviod a Bush admin disaster.
Spin: The Bush Admin presses Citi to fess up and console area residents
Spin: Washington Voters get get better chance of keeping their homes
Spin: Protests avoided as the Bush Admin encourages Citi to make things right
Spin:??
Tonite's NetBank follow-up lesson.
Bank's collapse leaves rubble for uninsured depositors Bill Donoghue - MarketWatch
I almost forgot. There is a War Czar...this guy:
Bush Taps New 'War Czar' - ABC News
who looks like he might have w's missing military records in his chops.
Now if only Tanta worked at the Pentagon, this would be such a natural appointment...
OT, but with the yen at 116.9 I expected a lot more zip in the stock market today.
Paging Dr. Arbogast........
giacutter
arbo's arbed on a double do not touch 117 knock and out barrier...
busy night for him
"Maybe our Czars will start meeting together? "Today, the Czars announced a tri-partisan plan that would refinance troubled borrowers into an affordable fixed-rate mortgage if they pass a drug test and agree to 4 years of voluntary military service."
gng"
Today, the Czars announced a tri-partisan plan that would refinance troubled borrowers into an affordable fixed-rate mortgage. Following Hitlers plan of leibensraum, and mixing it with Shrubboy's desire to bring Dumbocracy to the middle east, they have announced full loan forgiveness to any peasant who will take a 30 year fixed rate in Iraq.
Mortgage Tsar: With this grand plan we solve two problems.
One, distressed homedebtors are now put into homes that are way more affordable. Secondly Iraqis are exposed to the culture of dumbocracy brought in by Joe Ultra-Light sixpack, his wife Jane soccer mom, and the cute little brats. Its a win-win situation.
Cheers,
Barley - DC's jobless rate (3%)is lowest in the nation. That should send your pretty head spinning!
Area Jobless Rate Is Lowest in U.S. - washingtonpost.com
"I almost forgot. There is a War Czar...this guy:
ABC News - ABC News? id=3176644
who looks like he might have w's missing military records in his chops.
Now if only Tanta worked at the Pentagon, this would be such a natural appointment...
calmo "
I think her BFF did.
Karen Kwiatkowski Archives
Cheers,
This czar issue is designed to position the Democrats as more caring and competent on the issue. It won't accomplish a damn thing in the real world.
But politically, it's shrewd.
You are seeing the implosion of the Republican Party in the U.S. A short while from now, the next election will be almost over, on most levels. The Republicans just keep kicking key issues and votes out the window especially minorities, mothers, and rank-and-file workers being displaced by cheap foreign imports/labor.
Big tax increases are coming for the rich and corporations, along with universal health care and trade barriers higher than in decades. Wall Street won't like it one bit.
You can argue all you want about Hillary's flaws, but it doesn't matter. It's not about her or Democrats. They're just taking the gifts they are being given and trying not to screw them up.
You know, if you take one step back, things look pretty bad.
The bulls are running the show right now. Big time.
And that's great...unless they're wrong. Unless their models are wrong.
In which case, the crash is going to be horrendous. Absolutely horrendous.
And the bulls? Dow 15,000? Please.
rich,
"and rank-and-file workers being displaced by cheap foreign imports/labor."
Oh come now. That is just blatantly stupid partisan talk. The Duborats have been trying to ram through an amnesty for nigh on to two years.
"Big tax increases are coming for the rich and corporations,"
Ol' Hilary Rotten doesn't want higher taxes on her bank rollers in NYC. She wants higher taxes on the upper middle class. To push them back down to peasant status. It keeps the income gap wide.
"with universal health care"
No such thing...but it will surely implode the debt bubble. No such thing as in TANSTAAFL:
There ain't no such thing as a free lunch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"trade barriers higher than in decades."
Good...
see 2 minutes in:
YouTube -
Smoot Hawley tariff did wonders.
1930
Ludwig von Mises Institute
"ou can argue all you want about Hillary's flaws, but it doesn't matter. It's not about her or Democrats. They're just taking the gifts they are being given and trying not to screw them up."
Agree Neo-clown Rebulikuds are idiots.
Cheers,
Citi talks to KKR about leveraged debt
But last week a group of banks, including Citi, sold about half the $15bn loan package for KKRs takeover of First Data Corporation at lower losses than many observers had expected.
That number just keeps getting smaller...
However, one issue that some investors and regulators are watching carefully is whether any sales of loans will be true transactions, at genuine market prices or will be conducted at artificial rates, as part of a bigger commercial transaction, to flatter bank balance sheets.
KKR and Citigroup cheer loans market
This article explains the charade better. And it is ugly. These immoral scoundrels just keeping digging deeper.
Wall Street won't like it one bit.
Neither will the dollar. BODACIOUS!
Isn't about time for us to pull out and dust off the annual "Blizzard Of Pink Slips For Christmas" script?
"You are seeing the implosion of the Republican Party in the U.S. A short while from now, the next election will be almost over, on most levels. The Republicans just keep kicking key issues and votes out the window especially minorities, mothers, and rank-and-file workers being displaced by cheap foreign imports/labor."
Hard turn left toward socialism, goverment jobs for all.
Perpetually Perplexed
Naw dude, this time 'round the gov't will insist they be kept around till after Christmas. Fire 'em all after they do their "patriotic" duty of going into deeper debt to help the economy. Then the new bankruptcy laws kick in...and the credit card debt they used to buy all those presents can be made to look like a purposeful attempt to defraud lenders.
Cheers,
Californias legislature leaps into action:
Schwarzenegger puts new muscle in California’s lending rules - Mortgage Insider : The Orange County Register
SB 385 is the nontraditional mortgage guidance that has been adopted by many states and at the federal level. Better late than never I guess.
"With Banco Wal-Mart we will be able to complement the services we provide to the segment of the population that currently lacks the benefits of having accessible banking services," said Wal-Mart de Mexico's chief executive Eduardo Solorzano.
It is the second retailer to gain entry to Mexico's banking sector.
In 2002, Mexican retail and financial services group Elekra was given permission to launch a banking operation - leading to the foundation of Banco Azteca.
Until earlier this year, Wal-Mart had planned to create an in-house bank in the US, known as an industrial loan corporation (ILC).
However, in February it decided to withdraw its the application with the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corp - a government finance watchdog.
Wal-Mart's plans had been firmly opposed by unions, consumer groups and some state-level banks who believed the move would threaten local businesses.
However, Wal-Mart said it had no plans to open branches or offer banking services to consumers and that its plan had been "surrounded by manufactured controversy".
BBC NEWS | Business | Wal-Mart set to open Mexico banks
Wal-Mart knows how this scam works.
OT
Ferrovial is having problems rolling over it's $20b debt it took on to buy Heathrow airport.
And some people thought the credit crunch was contained.
"Blizzard Of Pink Slips After Christmas"?
Ok with me lets mix it up a little.
So exciting.
When do we dust off the Gift Card Conspiracy script?
r. cote
as always your oblique comments are indecipherable to plebes like me...
/i...i don't know what in blazes you write about...i/
.
In a previous comment section, I posted that the BofE was paying interest if reserves are within 8% of bank's predicted valuation, I was mistaken.
The actual figure is 30%, down from 1%.
Um,
Anyone who thinks KKR will not extract several pounds of flesh from Citi in the form of cheap sale prices for the purchased loans, and sweetheart terms on the financing just doesn't get it. This unit of KKR is in the business of owning securities like these. Citi? Not so much. There isn't anything nefarious going on here, there couldn't be, this is waaaay too visible. Citi is asking to get bailed out, at bail out prices, and is willing to provide financing to do so. Providing financing is the business Citi is in.
As usual, people are asking the wrong question. The better question is have Citi, ML and the rest overdone the markdowns so as to build up profit in the current quarter. After all, everyone knew the markdowns wewre coming so why not make them as deep as is defensible? Lots of folks here were calling for them to be marked at zero after all
I see your point, but how could anybody in their right minds(even the mindless zombie @ the SEC) view this as an arm length's transaction?
Thank you for your interest in the position of Mortgage Czar, Ms. Tanta. While your experience is certainly remarkable, we fear your wit and clarity make you unsuitable for this position. I hear the Department of Homeland Security is accepting applications.
Yo Kevin,
Either way we lose, don't we? Hyper-inflation is a risk but deflation seems to be a bigger one. General consumer price inflation will cause wages to rise at the same time home prices fall, perhaps meeting in the middle.
This is what happened during the 70's and 80's and seems to be the most likely scenario. Debtors do benefit during inflation and creditors are hurt but considering the many of our creditors are foreign investors perhaps the powers that be have a plan?
Wars are no longer fought with bullets my friend...