SunSentinel.com – Man’s home sold out from under him in foreclosure mistake When Jason Grodensky bought his modest Fort Lauderdale home last December, he paid cash. But seven months later, he was surprised to learn that Bank of America had foreclosed on the house, even though Grodensky did not have a mortgage. Grodensky knew nothing… Continue reading Proof That Nobody Is Safe From Foreclosure
FT Alphaville (FT Blog) – Did nobody ever consider that indexing was dangerous? A new paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research by Jeffrey Wurgler, Nomura professor of finance at New York University, discusses the potentially overlooked perils of indexing. The main point is that with ever increasing amounts of money tracking stock indices,… Continue reading All Assets Trade As One
Bloomberg.com – Peter J. Wallison: How to Get Housing off Government’s Juice In a year when angry voters are demanding a reduced government role in the economy, it is remarkable that most of the ideas for supplanting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are just imaginative ways of keeping government in the business of housing finance.… Continue reading Let Fannie And Freddie Go
Crain’s Chicago Business – Jamie Dimon’s Gold Coast mansion under contract A Gold Coast mansion belonging to J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon is under contract, about three weeks after the asking price was slashed to $6.95 million. The 13,500-square-foot property at 25 E. Banks St. has been on the market since… Continue reading The Housing Crash Has Taken Its Toll On Everyone
Conference Call Presentation/Charts of the Week Topics Covered This Week Include: Historical Perspective On A Double Dip Recession Double Dip Recession – What The Consensus Expects ECRI – Slowdown or Double Dip? Why No Record Refis? Sovereign CDS Total Credit Market Debt Private Sector Deleveraging, Public Sector Releveraging U.S. Consumers Are Now Willingly Deleveraging Bullish… Continue reading Untitled
On Friday the Federal Reserve released its quarterly Flow of Funds data, current through June 2010. One of the more popular headlines from this data concerns the record amount of “cash on the sidelines“. Through Q2 2010, nonfarm nonfinancial corporate businesses held $1.85 trillion in liquid assets on their balance sheets. As the argument goes,… Continue reading The Myth Of Cash On The Sidelines
FOMC statements side by side FT Alphaville (FT Blog) – Mohamed El-Erian: The Fed, as expected… The next few days will shed light on the durability of these market reactions. If sustained, they will speak to an important issue that Fed chairman Ben Bernanke raised in his Jackson Hole speech – namely, the delicate balance… Continue reading The Federal Reserve Opens The Door For QE2
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Europe Debt Crisis Is Over, Declares Spanish Leader Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero declared that the European debt crisis is over but said that the governments have to work better together and with markets to stave off such events. “I believe that… Continue reading Spanish Prime Minister Declares European Debt Crisis Over
MarketWatch.com – Housing isn’t close to stabilizing The starting point in discussing the shadow inventory has to be homes actually on MLS listings around the country. With the plunge in home sales starting in July, the number of listings has risen substantially since the spring. For example, California listings are up 25% since April. The… Continue reading Will Housing Ever Recover?
The Wall Street Journal – Default Rate Nears ’08 Level Measure Heads Below 3%, From 14.6% Last Fall; ‘The Rebound Is Breathtaking’ Corporate debt-default rates are expected to fall to the same levels that preceded the financial crisis of September 2008, marking a swift turnaround for the fate of the most troubled U.S. companies. The… Continue reading Corporate Default Rates
<Click on chart for larger image> The Bond Buyer – Eaton Vance BAB Fund Steers Clear of California and Illinois A fund devoted to investing in Build America Bonds would have a tough time avoiding debt backed by the states of California and Illinois altogether. Eaton Vance is doing its best. The Boston-based money manager… Continue reading Munis