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HomeI Will Be Reading ‘Reckless Endangerment’
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 26th, 2011 5:49 AM |
There are only a few books written on our financial crisis that I have felt compelled to read. I thoroughly enjoyed The Big Short by Michael Lewis. I strongly recommend 13 Bankers by Simon Johnson and James Kwak. Ruthless by Phil Trupp explores and exposes the largest scam on Wall Street, that is the auction-rate securities travesty, without parallel.
What is the next book I will be reading? After having listened to a Bloomberg Radio interview yesterday with The New York Times’ Gretchen Morgenson and Graham Fisher’s Josh Rosner, I will next be reading Reckless Endangerment.
I did not want the Bloomberg interview to end yesterday as Morgenson and Rosner were pulling no punches in naming names and exposing the stench of what I have defined as the Wall Street-Washington incest.
I have no doubt that America continues to suffer at the hands of so many intimately engaged in this incestuous activity. Will anything be done to expose and eradicate the incest? (more…)
Caroline Herron’s Lawsuit Targets Fannie Mae’s Mismanagement of Mortgage Modification Program
Posted by Larry Doyle on August 11th, 2010 7:17 AM |
Have executives at Fannie Mae worked to benefit their own financial interests versus promoting the well being of American taxpayers and homeowners looking to permanently modify their mortgages? Is Fannie Mae merely a perpetual train wreck or has something even more nefarious gone on inside the halls of our national stepchild?
In recently reviewing The Center for Public Integrity, I was not shocked — but certainly dismayed — to read Whistleblower: Fannie Mae Bungled HAMP Anti-Foreclosure Program,
Fannie Mae executives bungled their stewardship of the federal government’s massive foreclosure-prevention campaign, creating a bureaucratic muddle characterized by “mismanagement and gross waste of public funds,” according to a whistleblower lawsuit by a former Fannie Mae executive and consultant. (more…)
Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae Deja Vu?
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 28th, 2009 4:21 PM |
Can our economy absorb another financial hit of the magnitude of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae?
In the process of digging for some data on Uncle Sam’s TARP commitments, I came across a compelling story at Subsidyscope, a Financial Primer (right sidebar) link here at Sense on Cents. The lead story at Subsidyscope, dated May 26, 2009: Concerns Grow Over Federal Home Loan Bank Investments. They write:
The Federal Home Loan Banks, or FHLBs, may be the biggest financial players you’ve never heard of. Collectively, they hold $1.3 trillion in assets and are the largest U.S. borrower after the federal government.
For readers here at Sense on Cents, I have raised warnings about the FHLB system both on April 3rd (Putting Perfume on a Pig!!) and just this past Monday, May 25th (FHLBs: Red Sea, Dead Sea, or Both?). In my opinion, there is little doubt that the FHLB system was the greatest beneficiary of the FASB’s relaxation of the mark-to-market. Subsidyscope says as much:
A Subsidyscope review of the FHLBs’ financial statements has found that several of the banks are carrying substantial “unrealized losses” on their investments in mortgage-backed securities. Because the banks believe these losses are temporary, they don’t have to be recognized on the banks’ accounting statements.
What’s potentially worrisome is the sheer size of the losses. For the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle, they are substantially larger than the capital the bank holds to protect itself against such declines. If its mortgage-backed securities don’t regain their value, the bank will have to write them down, which could wipe out its capital buffer and raise risks for taxpayers.
Remind you of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae? I thought so. Let’s continue to dig even deeper. Subsidyscope asserts: (more…)
