All debt crisis debates are as simple as this: Debt that can’t be paid won’t be paid, so it’s only a matter of who will take the losses and when.

Click image below to get NYT’s visual overview of the euro crisis.

-Here’s a good table from CalculatedRisk. -Also here’s the FDIC Failed Bank List detailing the fate of each bank.

Has U.S. government debt become a safe haven for its own downgrade? Some think so since mortgage (Fannie & Freddie) and Treasury bonds still look ok relative to other global options, but that theory has yet to play out.

ZeroHedge ran a post from OfTwoMinds today with eight steps to fix the economy. Among the recommendations are requiring all banks to mark MBS, real estate and all other assets to market daily/weekly and imposing massive fines for mark-to-market misrepresentations.

Mortgage loans have three rate tiers: (1) lowest rates for conforming loans up to $417,000, (2) .125% to .25% higher than tier 1 for super-conforming loans from $417,000 to $729,750, (3) .125% to .375% higher than tier 2 for jumbo loans above $729,750.

As Bloomberg notes, loan modifications are still stumbling along (click pic). Besides mortgage industry colleagues I know who have chosen to specialize exclusively in loan modifications, no other sources I’m aware of are working for borrowers seeking loan modifications. And forget attorneys who’ve seen this problem as a money-maker. They don’t know the industry, and [...]

The U.S. Economy is in a bad state. What can be done? I will offer an agenda: (1) Reconsider our participation in the Basel accords and recognize that purely commercial banks have a different set of risks that the now hybridized investment/commercial banks. These regulations penalize purely commercial banks by demanding higher capitalization while insanely [...]

Rates were down today as bonds rallied (FNMA 4% coupon +53 basis points) to regain most of yesterday’s sharp losses. The rally came as citizens clashed with police in Athens to protest a new round of income-reducing austerity measures, plus U.S. manufacturing and homebuilder data were resoundingly weak. This outweighed U.S. consumer inflation that some [...]

The mortgage industry melted down August 2007, then whole financial world melted down September 2008. The Subprime Primer, a hilarious powerpoint chronicle of the crisis, made the rounds back then. I just stumbled across it, and I’ll repeat what I said at the time: Of all the deep analysis of the subprime crisis, this is [...]