September 8, 2010

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TARP Reversal, Mortgage Servicers on Hot Seat, China Rapidly Slowing

November 13, 2008 By Bill Rice Leave a Comment
hi-res-henry-paulson

TARP Reversal, Paulson ADHD? Paulson leads his dramatic redirection of the Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP) with an adaption of John Maynard Keynes, “When the facts change, I change my mind – what do you do, sir?”: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, whipping out his dead economist quote book, used this gem from John Maynard Keynes to justify his bombshell Troubled Asset Relief Program update and redirection: "I will never apologize for -- for changing an approach or a strategy when the … [Read more...]

AMEX Bank, ABA No New Regs, Big Bank Loan Modifications, Economist Turn Negative, 10 Benefits of Recession

November 11, 2008 By Bill Rice Leave a Comment
silver lining

American Express Becomes a Bank American Express becomes a bank, getting unprecedented speedy approval to become a Federally chartered bank. This is likely a smart preemptive move by American Express to hedge mounting credit card troubles by gaining access to TARP bailout funds. The cautionary part of this tale--how bad might those mounting losses be for the Federal Reserve to waive even the cursory 30-day waiting period? Bad! American Express Co. won U.S. Federal Reserve approval to become a commercial … [Read more...]

Obama "Big Bang," Auto Industry, First Time Home Buyer, China Stimulus Package

November 10, 2008 By Bill Rice Leave a Comment
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Obama Gearing Up "Big Bang" Reform Plan? The Obama team is analyzing analogies of FDR and attempting to avoid warnings of Carter-style open 100 days. This is certainly on the minds of an Obama economic advisory board that is in full motion on Obama's opening economic moves. "We can't afford to wait on moving forward on the key priorities that I identified during the campaign, including clean energy, healthcare, education and tax relief for middle-class families," said Mr Obama. "We also need a rescue … [Read more...]

The Obama Mortgage Market Edition

November 7, 2008 By Bill Rice Leave a Comment
cerberus

TARP II-A Better Troubled Asset Relief Program Will Obama focus on building a "better" TARP? One that looks more like the original Paulson plan, zeroing in on setting a price on the seed of the mortgage meltdown--"troubled assets?" Notably a portion of the TARP acronym, but reprioritized immediately out of the gate to a bank recapitalization plan. The argument being presented by some is that we are still facing the same problem Paulson called an emergency meeting of Congressional leader to warn … [Read more...]

Obama Reviewed, China, TARP Update, Bank of England, Wal-Mart Indicator

November 6, 2008 By Bill Rice Leave a Comment
walmart

Obama Election Reviewed Everyone is jumping in with there review and assessment of President-elect Obama. Here is what the financial services wonks are saying: Blown Mortgage is tracking Obama's Housing Promises Henry Blodget on the Yahoo! TechTicker is noting Obama already reseting expectations Wall Street Journal is ttracking Economists reactions to Obama Paul Kedrosky says Wall Street doesn't care China Crash Debated Economist Nouriel Roubini, noted economic doomsdayer often attributed with … [Read more...]

Obama Wins, New Treasury Secretary, Making Your Own Success

November 5, 2008 By Bill Rice 2 Comments
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Obama Wins Historic Election, Now What? No question this was a historic election on many counts. However, the big question looms: We are beyond the campaign promises, now what do we really get? This was a campaign filled with a boat-load of promises, walking into a fist full of problems. I hope the "Hope" American's elected delivers the hope we expected--we will certainly get change. Handicapping the New Treasury Secretary We have already jumped into the Cabinet guessing game. Dealbreaker is looking … [Read more...]

Weekend Notes: The Loan Modification Edition

November 1, 2008 By Bill Rice Leave a Comment
home loan modifications

Loan Modification Plans The US government and JP Morgan Chase race to massive loan modification plans. Naked Capitalism reviews the JP Morgan plan with skepticism: So despite the use of mortgage counsellors, borrowers are NOT being assessed on an individual basis. I hate to sound like a perennial skeptic, but I doubt that these programs will be terribly successful (although pushing foreclosures off even two or three quarters will probably make the bank's financials look better, and they presumably … [Read more...]

Consumer Squeeze, Charlie Gasparino, Election Trades, FDIC Loan Modifications, Consumer Capitulation, Deflation/Reflation Whipsaw

October 31, 2008 By Editor Leave a Comment

Consumer Squeeze is On Minyanville does a nice analysis, using the Star Wars Death Star garbage masher analogy, of the consumer conundrum--damned for credit, and damned if you save. Consumers are certainly being pinched at both ends as the US government keeps trying to unfreeze credit by driving down interest rates. The result? Lenders are getting more attractive rates by "borrowing" from consumers tax dollars, than bidding for their savings. Therefore, savings rates are down and lending is not … [Read more...]

GDP, Mortgage Bonds, Zero Interest Policy, Renters for Obama, Stop Being Bearish

October 30, 2008 By Bill Rice Leave a Comment
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GDP Swings Low, Sweet ... Well it is official, we're contracting. Consumers are hoarding their cash (taking queues from the banking sector). Unlike the recession of 2001 consumers will not be borrowing their way through hard time--try to find a home equity line of credit these days. They're calling it a recession: “This is the first of a run of negative G.D.P. numbers,” said Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics. “The economy is in recession.” He predicted that the economy would shrink … [Read more...]

Fed Lowers Rate 0.5% to 1%, But is There More?

October 29, 2008 By Bill Rice Leave a Comment
fomc meeting

Aaron Task presents a great Fed premonition. The Fed might not be done. In fact, it seems pretty clear they are locked into a recessionary outlook and few ideas for a short-term recovery. Recent policy actions, including today’s rate reduction, coordinated interest rate cuts by central banks, extraordinary liquidity measures, and official steps to strengthen financial systems, should help over time to improve credit conditions and promote a return to moderate economic growth. Nevertheless, downside … [Read more...]