Friday, December 23, 2011

Saturday December 24 Housing and Economic stories

KeNosHousingPortal.blogspot.com

TOP STORIES:

60 Minutes Exposes High-Level Fraud at Citibank and Countrywide - (www.capitalismwithoutfailure.com) These are not-to-be-missed videos, produced by CBS. Two high-level executive whistle-blowers are interviewed. Both encountered systemic fraud, reported it, and were relieved of their duties. Both are willing to act as witnesses. Our government is refusing to pursue actionable crimes perpetrated by people who brought this country to its knees. This redefines lack of accountability. Senior Fraud Investigator for the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Tom Borgers, Found and Reported on Pervasive Fraud. It is being ignored. On the results of Borgers' investigation: Borgers found pervasive fraud, committed across the board - by mortgage originators, underwriters, the banks, etc... On why over 800 bank officials went to jail following the S&L crisis, yet not one has gone to jail following our more recent crisis: Investigators had considerably more "support" following the S&L crisis.

Subprime markets in despair stage of housing bubble - (www.irvinehousingblog.com) He said if Land Advisors would have asked him to speak about Phoenix's housing market in the years between 2006-10, everyone attending would have needed a shot of bourbon to make it through his negative evaluations and projections. This week, Sood said he felt more positive about Phoenix's housing market and its oncoming recovery than he did about many other parts of the country. Yes, both Phoenix and Las Vegas are much closer to the bottom than Orange County. We have not reached capitulation here, although recent price drops are showing those signs. The coastal areas are still in denial. That's something that made the executive sitting next to me smile with relief. This is the same man who brought in a Corona at the start of the 3 p.m conference because he thought he would need it to get through another negative forecast. Sood's evolution of the housing bubble includes these cycles: A change in the mortgage business and upgrades in technology during the 1990s made it easier to make and obtain loans.

Investor sees huge cost to settle mortgage mess - (www.reuters.com) Vincent Fiorillo, a prominent mortgage investor, on Monday put at least a $100 billion price tag on cleaning up America's mortgage crisis. That figure is four times the $25 billion that has been widely bandied about in ongoing settlement talks involving several dozen state attorneys general and a handful of large U.S. banks with large mortgage servicing operations. Fiorillo, a portfolio manager with Doubleline Capital Management, said $25 billion would not be sufficient to end private litigation against the banks over faulty mortgages or keep at bay other state attorneys generals mounting their own lawsuits. "I like the idea of a big settlement because it gives everyone a clean start," Fiorillo, who oversees a $20 billion bond fund, told the 2012 Reuters Investment Outlook Summit. "We need to clear things out."

U.S. Mutual Funds Saw $9.24 Billion in Redemptions in Past Week, ICI Says - (www.bloomberg.com) U.S. mutual funds lost $9.24 billion to withdrawals last week, the most in almost two months, as investors fled domestic and global stocks. Funds that invest in U.S. equities had $6.67 billion in redemptions and foreign-stock funds lost $2.96 billion in the week ended Nov. 30, the Washington-based Investment Company Institute said today in an e-mailed statement. The redemptions from stock funds were the most since the week ended Aug. 10, when investors pulled $29.7 billion. Industrywide withdrawals were the heaviest since the week ended Oct. 5, the trade group’s data show.

Draghi: ECB to Offer Banks Unlimited Cash - (www.bloomberg.com) European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the ECB will offer banks as much money as they need for three years and loosened collateral rules at refinancing operations as officials try to ease strains in credit markets. The ECB also cut banks’ reserve ratios to 1 percent from 2 percent and will stop fine tuning operations at the end of each reserve maintenance period, Draghi said at a press conference in Frankfurt today. The 36-month loans will be conducted as a fixed rate with full allotment, Draghi said.

OTHER STORIES:

ECB May Dig Deeper Into Crisis Toolbox - (www.bloomberg.com)

S&P may downgrade EU, large euro-zone banks - (www.reuters.com)

European leaders gather for summit to save the euro - (www.washingtonpost.com)

Draghi Courts Bundesbank in Bid to Avoid Trichet Fate - (www.bloomberg.com)

World Food Prices Fall for a Fifth Month, May Be ‘Bottoming Out,’ UN Says - (www.bloomberg.com)

Banks Prep for Life After Euro - (online.wsj.com)

Analysis: Asia's economy heading for "yo-yo" year in 2012 - (www.reuters.com)

Draghi Pushes to Unfreeze Credit as Bond-Buy Talk Damped - (www.bloomberg.com)

Jobless Claims in U.S. at Lowest in Nine Months - (www.bloomberg.com)

Deutsche Bank, BNP May Be Cut by S&P - (www.bloomberg.com)

No comments: