There are some clever folks out there. One of them created this lamentation of the new appraisal rules (known as HVCC, the Home Valuation Code of Conduct), sung to Joe Cocker’s “All Night Laundry Mat Blues”: We got the all day HVCC blues Brokers can’t use appraisers that they choose The AMC we’re using they
Timothy Geithner
RATE UPDATE Rates on conforming loans up to $417k are holding around record lows even in the wake of improving economic data which can push rates up. This is largely because of continued Fed mortgage bond buying which drives bond prices up and yields (or rates) down. Rates on high-limit conforming loans up to $729k
Later today, results of the government conducted stress tests on the nation’s 19 largest are likely to reveal that some of these banks will need about $65 billion in additional capital, maybe more. Banks who need to raise money to cover potential losses in the coming two years are as follows: Bank of America Bank
Here’s a detailed fact sheet from Treasury about how they’re adding second mortgages to the Making Home Affordable Loan Modification program, and below is the full announcement about this enhancement to the program. The Obama Administration today announced details of new efforts to help bring relief to responsible homeowners under the Making Home Affordable Program,
Thomas Jefferson said, “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.” Maybe he would be proud of the demonstration that my daughter and I saw on the banks of the Savannah River yesterday in Georgia, which apparently was taking place in many cities around the
A recent president was reported to have said, “You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on.” FHA New Subprime? Some in the mortgage business feel that FHA loans are the new subprime, and the taxpayer will be the one to absorb the hit.
From Bloomberg: The U.S. Federal Reserve has told Goldman Sachs Group Inc. , Citigroup Inc. and other banks to keep mum on the results of “stress tests” that will gauge their ability to weather the recession, people familiar with the matter said. The Fed wants to ensure that the report cards don’t leak during earnings
Last week, we discussed the Treasury’s Public Private Investment Program which is a way for banks to unload illiquid assets. As we said at the time, it’s a smart program. But the Economist this week points out that it’s only a half plan, and unless banks are forced to sell assets, it’s not likely to
RATE UPDATE Rates on conforming loans up to $417k and super-conforming loans up to $625k are down about .25% since the big Fed announcement last Wednesday—they were down further but have since retraced. Increases of super-conforming loan limits to $729k have still not been announced by Fannie and Freddie—it’s expected very soon. Rates on Jumbos
You have to be suspect when financial decision makers start talking about reinventing the game of finance like Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner did today. The first time in recent history was in 1994 when Salomon Brothers bond genius John Meriwether founded hedge fund Long Term Capital Management with a group of ‘financial engineers’ who were
Below is the complete Treasury plan that’s been eagerly anticipated plan to remedy the credit crunch that started August 2007. It’s clearly presented and there are further links at the bottom to follow up Q&As. Bottom line: it’s a plan for private investors to be able to raise money with FDIC backing to be able
Between the $787b recovery plan and the $250b foreclosure plan announced last week, we’re into the trillions in terms of bailouts—and that’s just this year. It’s also excluding the $700b TARP plan from last year and the forthcoming bank bailout plan coming from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. So where is all the money coming from?
RATE UPDATE Zero-points rates on conforming loans up to $417k and super-conforming loans up to $625,500 have moved up in recent weeks because the Fed has executed its mortgage bond buying differently than expected (more on this below). So the pricing trend across most banks has been to offer favorable terms on points. Normally one
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will announce his bank recovery plans Monday. Speculation has ranged from an RTC-like entity to buy illiquid assets from banks helping them shore up balance sheets and get back to core activities (the original goal of the TARP) to directly investing in banks to recapitalize them (the way TARP phase 1
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