High profile mortgage industry lawsuits will continue for some time and I’ll continue covering them. Here are three lesser known suits that have bubbled up. (1) Taylor, Bean & Whitaker: the gift that keeps on giving. Most, if not every, mortgage company has an accounting firm. In what could be a very closely watched case,
SEC
This guest post from a hedge fund exec does a good job of explaining Goldman’s regulatory/legal issues in terms we can all understand… When you win, your bookie wins. When you lose, your bookie wins. No matter the outcome of the game, your bookie skims a little “juice.” Sometimes your bookie screws you (e.g. you
Anyone who’s got hardline opinions on the SEC’s case against Goldman Sachs should read The Big Picture’s “10 Things You Don’t Know (or were misinformed) About The GS Case.” As usual, Barry Ritholtz’s hardline opinions are better supported than most of the other chatter out there. Also worth reading is an essay by George Soros
Michael Lewis just published his take on the SEC suit against Goldman. Normally Lewis’ unique ability is to discuss complex market topics in a way that presents both sides of the story even when it’s clear which side he’s taking. This piece feels like more of a populist take, and that was the same impression
Today was the the SEC’s One Day As A Lion as they filed the first big claim against Wall Street—a subprime MBS fraud suit against Goldman Sachs—since the great recession began in 2007. So this installment of bTunes is for the SEC from Zach De La Rocha. The former Rage front man named his new
Goldman Sachs shares are currently down 12% today following an SEC lawsuit claiming Goldman committed subprime fraud. The SEC suit alleges Goldman was paid by hedge fund Paulson & Co. to create and market a subprime mortgage derivative product sold under the name Abacus, then Paulson & Co. shorted it while Goldman was marketing it
No Fee Reverse Mortgages? If a senior citizen pays even one penny for a reverse mortgage, is the borrower paying too much? The latest trend in reverse mortgage lending is for the lender to charge no origination or servicing fees. MetLife, Pentagon Federal Credit Union, and now Financial Freedom and Generation Mortgage are all taking
The FBI says that mortgage fraud is “rampant and growing.” They are also investigating reports that AIG and Bear Stearns may be in financial trouble … Overall, how is the mortgage industry doing? There are those who say, although the landscape and rules have changed, things are good. And there are others who are more
General Motors has filed for bankruptcy, and they also want billions more in bailout money so they can restructure their debt. “You want more money? Wait here while I talk to the manager. I’ll be right back.” First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Facts There is still some confusion about the guidelines for use of the first-time
Since Mary Shapiro was named head of the SEC and Gary Gensler was named head of the CFTC, speculation has been that the two groups would be combined. The SEC has taken hits for everything from Lehman to Bear to Madoff. Meanwhile, the CFTC was “modernized” under the leadership of then Senator Phil Gramm, if
Amazon.com WidgetsThe Obama Era starts this week with a lot of tears and idealism and hope. We don’t discount the historical magnitude of Obama’s win, and in fact, we’re a bit caught up in the moment right now as you can see by our Obamafied logo in the rotation. But to those who are looking
Obama has picked Mary Shapiro to succeed Chris Cox as head of the troubled SEC. The securities industry regulator has taken hits over lax oversight of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns and also is currently getting slammed for missing (or perhaps ignoring) the $50 billion in fraud committed by Bernard Madoff. Shapiro is now the
Last night, as I was taunting my dog with a hunk of cheddar cheese waved above her nose, the look in her eye reminded me that there is talk among loan agents of a mythical refi boom. Not your parent’s refi boom, or the 48 minute refi boom in January, but a real one. Of
Fixed and ARM rates are down about .125% this week following last Friday’s Personal Income & Spending report which includes the Fed’s favorite measure of inflation—Personal Consumption Expenditures. The PCE number showed that year-over-year inflation was 2%, within the Fed’s 1-2% target range. Tomorrow and Thursday the Institute for Supply Management releases monthly reports on
This morning Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced a 2-8 year plan for modernizing financial market regulation with three main tiers: (1) Increased Federal Reserve power to promote market stability, (2) Consolidating all federal bank charters and insurance companies under one regulator, probably the Treasury, in order to promote safety and soundness of institutions with federal