About 15 months ago actor Kal Penn joined the White House Office of Public Engagement, and 2 months ago he returned to Hollywood to make a third installment of the “Harold & Kumar” cult-favorite stoner movie series. In the last installment of the movie, Penn’s character Kumar smoked a joint with George W. Bush. And
July 2010
Here’s a quick video of the decent from the Mountain Village into Telluride, Colorado. The most beautiful free public transportation imaginable. Posting may be light in the next two weeks.
Out of the 2,300 pages in the soon-to-be-law financial reform bill, none of them attempt to reform Freddie or Fannie – most say because F&F deserve their own reform bill and that will happen in 2011 after the U.S. Treasury completes its study. Fannie was created in 1938 to help buy mortgages from financial institutions
Out of the 2,300 pages in the soon-to-be-law financial reform bill, none of them attempt to reform Freddie or Fannie – most say because F&F deserve their own reform bill and that will happen in 2011 after the U.S. Treasury completes its study. Fannie was created in 1938 to help buy mortgages from financial institutions
The FDIC has closed 96 banks so far in 2010, including 6 on Friday. Here’s the FDIC Failed Bank List which shows which banks failed outright, depleting bank-funded FDIC reserves, and which were fully or partially taken over by other banks. When WAMU became the biggest-ever bank failure in the heat of the crisis, the
The FDIC has closed 96 banks so far in 2010, including 6 on Friday. Here’s the FDIC Failed Bank List which shows which banks failed outright, depleting bank-funded FDIC reserves, and which were fully or partially taken over by other banks. When WAMU became the biggest-ever bank failure in the heat of the crisis, the
Below is a chart from Mortgage Market Guide showing 4% coupon Fannie Mae 30 year mortgage backed securities trading for the last 6 months. Currently, this is the most common benchmark lenders use to price consumer mortgage rate sheets daily. When these bond prices rise, rates fall, and vice versa. Note the drop in prices
Finreg Summary For Lenders The Financial Reform Bill passed the Senate, and will no doubt be signed by President Obama. It is 2,300 pages. From my limited view, there are hundreds of thousands of questions for regulators and investors to answer in the next several months (at least), and most large mortgage companies are doing
For those who don’t truly know what’s going on with financial reform, we offer this simple analogy using beloved movie The Hangover. While the market has been shaking off its post credit boom hangover with a new credit boom (hair of the dog is the best cure, right?), Senator Chris Dodd drafted financial reform legislation
Saw this story on San Francisco Realtor Katy Dinner’s blog today, a WSJ piece I missed which highlights a Fed study about underwater homeowners. According to the Fed, “the median borrower who ‘strategically’ defaults doesn’t walk away from the mortgage until the amount owed exceeds the value of the home by 62%.” Below are some
Back in January, here’s what we said about rates and the economy: “As we move through 2010, our outlook is for waning Fed support to push rates approximately 1% higher, and for a choppy economic recovery marked by modest GDP growth and minimal employment improvement.” Conforming 30-year fixed rates were at 5% at the time.
The Fed’s June 22-23 meeting minutes were released today. Below are key excerpts about economic outlook, which is for a slow recovery. Mortgage bonds have rallied since this came out, and rates are down. Staff Economic Outlook In the economic forecast prepared for the June FOMC meeting, the staff continued to anticipate a moderate recovery
Financial Reform Back In Headlines Our elected officials return from the July 4th recess this week, and those in the mortgage business are waiting to see if the Senate passes the Financial Reform Bill and passes it along to the president for his signature – as expected. Among other things to note, the bill establishes
Financial Reform Back In Headlines Our elected officials return from the July 4th recess this week, and those in the mortgage business are waiting to see if the Senate passes the Financial Reform Bill and passes it along to the president for his signature – as expected. Among other things to note, the bill establishes
Rate Snapshot Conforming, Jumbo, and FHA rates ended last week at record lows again (see rates below), which makes a two-month streak of record lows. A significant rate spike is not expected in the near future, but it’s also not likely rates will stay this low. Here’s why rates could tick up next week. How
Can The Fed Stimulate Economy Better Than Congress? It seems that Congress is tied up in knots and compromises lately, so Federal Reserve officials may be taking matters into their own hands for improving the economy. The Fed has a limited set of tools with which to work, especially with its overnight Fed Funds target
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