What you must know about EU downgrades. Plus a funny picture.
S&P
One might conclude that the success of Black Friday was at the expense of last week.
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,
I swear that I did not start any appraisal controversies in the press last week when I brought up valuation problems, but there was a coincidental flurry in the press about the subject. Maybe it was the appearance that NAR keeps blaming “bad appraisals” for the lack of appreciation in the housing market. Regardless, the
Great infographic from Visible via Ritholtz. Click image for full size.
Before the S&P downgrade last Friday, I wrote the following about the debt deal: I have said little about the default possibility simply because I estimated the possibility at near-zero. From my point-of-view what happened was an enormous and bogus media campaign getting people worked up about something an then an illusion that something had
Before the S&P downgrade last Friday, I wrote the following about the debt deal: I have said little about the default possibility simply because I estimated the possibility at near-zero. From my point-of-view what happened was an enormous and bogus media campaign getting people worked up about something an then an illusion that something had
This weekend we covered the likely consequences of the S&P downgrade in three parts (1, 2, 3). While the day is young, it looks as if the heart of these forecasts is what’s happening: equities are selling and those dollars are seeking the safe haven of U.S. Treasuries and mortgage backed securities. While it may
Here we are after S&P’s U.S. downgrade (here’s my take) and stocks are down again and the bond market is rallying. Markets set rates, not rating agencies, and it would seem that money is flowing into bullion and into the bond market, as many expected would happen. Perhaps the United States really is still viewed
Here’s an S&P downgrade/U.S. budget edition of my Originations linkfest, complete with an epic photoshop from my boy h1ghway. Background for the less pop culturally obsessed: the pimp who sets Idiocracy’s nation-in-decline plot in motion is named Upgrayedd—pronounced ‘upgrade’ but “spelled with two Ds for a double-dose of his pimping.” -S&P Downgrade Q&A (Reuters) -Fear
Remember being glued to your computer or TV in Fall 2008 trying to figure out what was next in the market meltdown? The debt ceiling circus in DC and S&P’s subsequent U.S. downgrade have captured consumers’ attention in a similar way. But this topic is much more complicated and consumers mostly get information in two
After parts 1 and 2 on the rate impact of S&P’s downgrade, here are a few new comments before Asian markets open. We’ll continue to discuss rate impacts as this situation plays out. – The first is not an additional comment but a repeat of what I said yesterday: S&P is 100% correct that the
Friday night, I hear of the S&P downgrade and barely start taking notes when my almost-three-year-old barrels between me and my laptop/notepad, takes my pen, looks at what I’ve written and says: “A – A – A. I’m gonna draw a picture. [then, after drawing what you see below] See the picture I drew? It’s
Rates dropped .125% last week after a string of bad economic reports. Rates touched all-time lows momentarily Thursday after a six-day mortgage bond rally, then retreated (but held 2011 lows) after a less bad July jobs report Friday. After Friday’s close, S&P downgraded U.S. debt one notch from AAA to AA+ with the promise of
Rates dropped .125% last week after a string of bad economic reports. Rates touched all-time lows momentarily Thursday after a six-day mortgage bond rally, then retreated (but held 2011 lows) after a less bad July jobs report Friday. After Friday’s close, S&P downgraded U.S. debt one notch from AAA to AA+ with the promise of
There are two statements I would offer about S&P’s downgrade of U.S. debt: 1) S&P’s reasoning about the inability of politicians to address the real issue of fiscal sustainability is 100% correct. 2) the short-term effect on Treasury yields of S&P’s decision will be small. The political problem stems from the fact that there is
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