With the continued slowdown in the economy, the family made the decision to let my son go. After 16 years we had a certain amount of loyalty, but the harsh realities had set in. He wondered why it was him and not his younger sister, and I explained that she had edged him out on
July 2008
President Bush last week said publicly that “Wall Street got drunk … and now it’s got a hangover. The question is how long it will sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments.” Not since President Camacho referred to the economy as the eco-mony in his state of the union speech
Up until recently I lay awake at night, wondering if I got cheated when I had to make my standard mortgage payment in February, since it only has 28 days. A California appellate court has rejected a class action lawsuit by Julie and Kenneth Puentes claiming Wells Fargo unfairly treated customers in its calculation of
It hasn’t even been a month since Wachovia hired Goldman Sachs to evaluate its loan portfolio, and only 11 days since the company hit a 17-year low after its new CEO Robert Steel came on board, but Wachovia has announced that they are closing their wholesale lending channel that serves mortgage brokers. The latest in
Usually I stop at Starbucks every morning, on the way from my bedroom to my bathroom. I was a little surprised that they put one of their outlets in my house last year, kicking my daughter out of her room, but I guess they figured that it made sense financially. As it turns out, California,
Countless ex-mortgage bankers have switched careers and gone into the exciting world of farm-raised sea monkeys. (Not to be confused with wild sea monkeys.) It is comforting to know that not only are they nowhere near extinction, but apparently thriving. Now, if I could only find the phone number for that “Raise minks at home
MORTGAGE ROUND-UP Good news, there’s a new 90% No Income, No Asset loan rolling out today. Just kidding – sorry. It sure has a catchy ring, and hearkens back to “the good old days”. Most folks still in the business feel that many of the “bad apples” have left the industry, whether they are companies
When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her someplace expensive. So I took her to a gas station. SEC IMPOSES SHORT SELLING RESTRICTIONS FOR FNMA/FHLMC “Daddy, what is ‘short selling’?” “Well darling, short selling is when you sell something, usually a stock, without owning it. The SEC issued an emergency
Fed chairman Ben Bernanke testified to the Senate Banking Committee today on the outlook for growth and inflation. The growth picture looks bleak, dragged down by housing, and the inflation looks higher because of rising food and energy prices. The tug of war continues. He also discussed some changes to mortgage approvals including the elimination
What Capital Markets employee hasn’t dreamed of being a rodeo clown? “They put themselves in the line of danger every time they go to work. With names like Shane, Flint, Cody, Scooter, and Tex, they evoke the nostalgia of the old west. Rodeo clowns make perhaps $100 to $225 for a show, usually setting their
As I sat down at my desk this morning to write this, I glanced over at my Aurora mouse pad, my First Magnus coffee mug, my American Home pencil holder, my Indymac calendar, my Paul Financial paper clips, as my Greenpoint duck looked down from the computer. I thought to myself, “I hope that my
Mark Sanford, a top vice president candidate for John McCain, was asked on CNN this morning what differences are there if any between Bush’s and McCain’s economic policies. His response was to draw a mumbling, fumbling blank. Must-watch video and transcript below. BLITZER: Are there any significant economic differences between what the Bush administration has
The Barron’s cover story this weekend is Bottom’s Up: This Real Estate Rout May Be Short Lived. Surely a welcome bit of analysis ahead of a week that’s sure to be monumental as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are poised for a Fed bailout. Credible analysis too, not just propaganda. The article actually starts by
Some sobering housing stats: Of the 129m housing units in America, 18.6m stand empty. At 2.9%, the home-owner vacancy rate, which measures the share of vacant homes for sale, has reached its highest point since measurement began in 1956. At the end of the first quarter there were 2.3m empty homes on the market, an
If you’re a homebuyer with less than 20% down, let’s say 10% down as an example, you’ve probably heard over the past several years that you just get a first mortgage for 80% and a second mortgage for the remaining percent. This way, you avoid mortgage insurance lenders charge for first mortgages above 80% of
In a press release 4 days ago, IndyMac said they were shutting down their retail and wholesale lending units but keeping their 33 branch banking network. The next day, a private equity firm purchased IndyMac’s retail lending operations for an undisclosed amount. Today, the Office of Thrift Supervision shut down IndyMac’s retail banking operations and
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