Details are still a little sketchy but I’m assuming that the new subprime bailout plan will closely resemble California’s plan. Previously, I listed some unintendend consequences. Quickly, those were insufficient scale to work and keeping the “plankton” out of the housing market. Those are still valid, IMO. After getting the details about Gov. Schwarzenegger’s plan [...]
Wall Street is giddy with rumors of some sort of deal pending from the Treasury with mortgage lenders regarding the freezing of subprime mortgage resets. There’s a common sentiment among free-market conservatives that when government tries to fix something, they generally make it worse. I’m not a conservative but I’ve got to go agree in [...]
During Bernanke’s testimony a couple of weeks ago in Washington, Helicopter Ben suggested that Fannie and Freddie be allowed to raise the caps on loans they can accept to help alleviate pressure in the mortgage-backed securities market. This proposal elicited a violent reaction from me. If Chuck Schumer manages to get this proposal enacted, I [...]
Continuing with our blow-by-blow breakdown of Ben Bernanke’s testimony: A Congressman just pointed out that Bernanke made a bad prediction 7 months ago regarding the severity of the housing crisis while that Congressman was correct in his prediction that supply would reach 10 months. The politician then asked Bernanke what the impact would be, using [...]
Bernanke is testifying as I type this and he just made the suggestion that the Federal Government help the mortgage crisis by guaranteeing Freddie & Fannie’s exposure to allow those GSEs to buy and package more loans. Of course, they’ll underestimate exposure to possible losses from these mortgages and the taxpayer will be left holding [...]
It was surprising to wake up to the pleasant sight of half my portfolio at 52-week highs. Apparently, gold has broken through its all-time nominal high, oil fast approaches $100 and not unrelated, the US dollar index precipitously sits right at the 76 level, threatening to drop even further. While these trends have further to [...]
