mortgages

In the lead-up to the credit crisis, I really didn’t write a considerable amount about second mortgages despite my focus on credit writedowns. At that time, I was more focused on writedowns from securitized mortgage paper (and later…

This past Monday I was on the BBC talking about the recently unveiled Fiscal Year 2011 Budget proposed by the Obama Administration for the U.S. Federal Government.  The budget is, as with most things Obama, a tightrope walk between the…

Exactly three months ago, I told you to expect bankruptcy in the record Stuyvesant Town real estate deal. Today, this is exactly what we got: A group led by Tishman Speyer Properties has decided to give up the sprawling Peter Cooper…

CNBC's Diana Olick has the breaking story on alleged fraud in the mortgage industry. She has been writing about this for a few days now.  See Big Banks Accused of Short Sale Fraud - Realty Check with Diana Olick at CNBC’s website.…

This has been making the rounds. Colbert at his best.

Sheila Bair is a straight shooter. And as such, she laid it on the line today in her prepared remarks before Congress.  Her remarks were on the money on several counts. I will highlight just a few with commentary followed by the…

This quote from Caroline Baum sums things up pretty well about the Fed's complicity in blowing a massive bubble in housing and in stocks before it. I know Bernanke has given this issue a great deal of thought and devoted the Fed’s…

The dust has settled a bit on the Treasury’s recent decision to give Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a green light to nationalize our mortgage problem. Calculated Risk says the move was not necessarily done on Christmas Eve to escape notice. And…

Internet maven and San Diego North County real estate guru “Jim the Realtor” has another post  showing us that extend and pretend is alive and well in the wonderful world of housing. This guy received his first NOD in April, 2006,…

John Hussman’s latest weekly contribution contends that the market is now extremely overvalued, to the point where long-term returns will likely be low. As of last week, the S&P 500 nearly matched the richest valuations, on…