More bank stress tests coming. Here’s why U.S. banks are pushing back on how tests work.

Today’s links on buying a home, walking away from a home, unemployment, and a declining economic outlook. – Is It Time to Buy A Home? (WSJ) – Ethics of Mortgage Loan Default (ZeroHedge) – 25m Unemployed or Can’t Find Full Time Job (NPR via Ritholtz) – Goldman Sachs Backpedals On Economic Outlook (ZeroHedge) – Larry [...]

I finally saw HBO’s Too Big To Fail, a movie based on Andrew Ross Sorkin’s book of the same name. It was about Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson’s enactment of TARP during the darkest days of the financial crisis, and begins with Treasury taking over Fannie and Freddie on Sunday, September 7, 2008. That day, my [...]

Per the FDIC, commercial banks and savings institutions insured by them “reported an aggregate profit of $29 billion in the first quarter of 2011, an $11.6 billion improvement (66.5%) from the $17.4 billion in net income the industry reported in 1Q2010. This is the seventh consecutive quarter of year-over-year earnings growth, although it is the [...]

Below are two notable items on this slow news day, as well as a primer on how mortgage banks lock loans and hedge risk. (1) The bankruptcy trustee for Thornburg Mortgage sued Goldman, Barclays and other big banks for a combined $2.2 billion, blaming them for its bankruptcy. Meanwhile, former Thornburg CEO Larry Goldstone is [...]

Awhile back I wrote that if Barry Ritholtz was a rapper, he’d be Gift of Gab from Blackalicious. His retort was that he’s all 3 Beastie Boys. I can dig that: the dude’s “got more stories than JD’s got Salinger.” So kicking off today with an inflation story originated on his blog—context for today’s PPI [...]

Last Thursday, while on a tour of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, my son and I met and chatted with CNBC futures reporter Rick Santelli. I told him that I was there to speak at a Fannie Mae regional meeting, he launched into a dissertation about how better off the mortgage industry would be if the [...]

Rates are generally even on today’s market news which includes bank earnings and some housing data, as follows: Wells Fargo’s earnings came out as expected at $3.2 billion (61 cents per share). Initial reads show that Wells’ loan growth was better than expected. Credit quality improved dramatically, allowing Wells to release some $850 million in [...]

Facebook Worth $50b After Goldman Deal While everyone was working up clever holiday status updates on Facebook, the company was working up a deal with Goldman Sachs that places its value at $50b. NYT Dealbook’s report on the topic also previews the year’s hottest tech companies, and StockTwits $FBOOK feed will keep you up to [...]

This video is an entertaining take on quantitative easing. Will be funny to most because of its populist take, and hilarious to those who buy this week’s GOP talking points on QE2. (thanks to Brian M for sending)