Posts Tagged ‘Freddie Mac’
Posted by Larry Doyle on August 16th, 2010 4:03 PM |
In June 2009, I highlighted the expectation of massive losses within Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in writing Uncle Sam’s Dirty Little Secret. Fourteen months and hundreds of billions of dollars in losses later, America awaits to see how our ‘wizards in Washington’ will look to deal with these housing ‘wards of the state.’ Tomorrow, the Obama administration hosts the “Conference on the Future of Housing Finance.”
In anticipation of this conference, this past April the Obama administration had asked for input as to how our housing finance system might work. I wrote then (and would like to resubmit now), Sense on Cents Responds to Obama Administration Request for Input:
President Obama wants input on the reform of the housing finance system. Given my career, I consider myself eminently qualified to give it to him. Despite this request, though, I still think he should focus on job creation (which he highlighted during his State of the Union address).
I welcome giving President Obama, Treasury Secretary Geithner, and the rest of the the White House economic team a very healthy dose of Sense on Cents. (My response is a little lengthy, but it is not everyday the President gives us this opportunity. Out of respect, I owe him my best effort.) I will let you know if they respond with anything more than a form letter, or if they do not respond at all. From the U.S. Treasury today:
Obama Administration Seeks Public Input on
Reform of the Housing Finance System (more…)
Tags: conference on future of housing finance, fannie and freddie summit, fannie freddie summit preview, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, future of housing, Geithner, GIM, Greenwich Investment Management, home finance, Housing Crisis, Larry Doyle, Obama Administration, obama conference on housing, public input on reform of housing finance system, Sense on Cents, what to do with fannie and freddie
Posted in General | 7 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 23rd, 2010 12:57 PM |
Information is everything. Those who control the information have immense power. The allegiances of those in control of the info obviously have an enormous impact on how the information is processed and dispensed. The potential for conflicts of interest are significant. Standard business fare, correct? Have these conflicts played out on Wall Street? All too often. How so?
I have repeatedly highlighted the conflicts within our financial regulatory structure. We also know that the credit rating agencies have been enormously conflicted. Anywhere else? Let’s enter the world of mortgage servicing, ….. (more…)
Tags: Bank of America, Bill Frey, conflicts, conflicts of interest on Wall Street, Fannie Mae, Fannie Subpoena to Show 30B in Bad Mortgages Josh Rosner, Federal Housing Finance Agency, FHFA, financial regulations, financial regulatory structures, Freddie Mac, JP Morgan, mortgage servicing, mortgage servicing rights, MSRs, servicers, Wall Street conflicts, Wells Fargo, what do mortgage servicers do
Posted in General, Mortgage Crisis, Mortgages | 6 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 12th, 2010 3:21 PM |
Are there some dark legal clouds beginning to hover over the Wall Street landscape? How so? The threats of impending lawsuits are never a forecast any individual, entity, or industry care to entertain. Like it or not, Wall Street is beginning to get some ground cover in the forms of pending legal actions.
While a large mortgage investor, Cambridge Place Investment Management, recently filed a complaint against virtually every firm on Wall Street in the Massachusetts courts, today we see none other than our ‘wards of the state’ Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac preparing the initial steps to bring suit against Wall Street. Could it be possible that Fannie and Freddie would sue Wall Street? Is a potential lawsuit political cover for Uncle Sam? Who knows? (more…)
Tags: CAmbridge Place Investment Management, Edward DeMarco, Fannie and Freddie subpoenas, Fannie Mae, Federal Housing Finance Agency, FHFA, Freddie Mac, U.S. Seeks to recoup fannie Freddie Losses, Wall Street lawsuits, will fannie and Freddie sue Wall Street
Posted in General | 3 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 10th, 2010 11:21 AM |
As day follows night, financial fraud follows economic distress. God forbid people try to make an honest living as opposed to seizing opportunities to make a dishonest buck. This financial artifice is on display in the short sales of homes throughout our country.
Bloomberg highlights this fraudulent activity in reporting, Banks Face Short-Sale Fraud as Home ‘Flopping’ Schemes Spread:
Two Connecticut real estate agents found a way to profit in the U.S. housing bust: Buy low, sell fast. Their tactic was also illegal. (more…)
Tags: Anna McElaney, California Department of Real Estate, Fannie Mae, fraud in house flopping, Freddie Mac, HAMP, house flopping, how to flop a house, mortgage modifications, Neil Barofsky, payoffs and kickbacks, Sergio Natera, short sales and home flopping, what is house flopping
Posted in General | 1 Comment »
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 3rd, 2010 11:52 AM |
I first introduced readers of Sense on Cents to issues embedded within the Federal Home Loan Bank system in the spring of 2009. In an article entitled FHLBs: Red Sea, Dead Sea or Both?, I highlighted:
Charles Bowsher, the former chair of FHLB’s Office of Finance sent a warning shot loud and clear about the “hidden and embedded” losses in this system when he resigned his position as chair of the FHLB Office of Finance in late March (2009). As Bloomberg reported on April 2nd:
Bowsher, who was comptroller general of the U.S. from 1981 to 1996, had a simple reason for resigning last week as chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank System’s Office of Finance. He didn’t want to put his name on the banks’ combined financial statements, because he was uncomfortable vouching for them.
Well, the shot Bowsher sent a year ago reverberated today in the form an earthquake as reported by the American Banker, Questioning Marks on Mortgage Bonds at San Francisco FHLB:>>>> (more…)
Tags: American Banker Questioning Marks on Mortgage Bonds at San Francisco FHLB, Amy Stewart, Charles Bowsher, embedded losses in RMBS, Espen Robak, Fannie Mae, Federal Home Loan Banks, FHLB office of finance, FHLB San Francisco, Freddie Mac, Karen Shaw Petrou Federal Finance Analytics, losses in banking, losses in RMBS, Pluris Valuation Advisors, Price Waterhouse Coopers C, PWC
Posted in Federal Home Loan Banks, General | 3 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 2nd, 2010 1:20 PM |
Has America lost the courage to aggressively address those who commit fraud? Is the American public even aware of the massive fraud perpetrated by those in our financial system which led to our current economic crisis? Are those in Washington willing to take a stand, risk their own skins, call out those engaged in fraud, even if some of the fraudsters occupy neighboring seats at nearby regulatory bodies?
Unless we find people in our government who are willing to make these calls, repeat them publicly in a long, loud fashion, and compel prosecutors to issue indictments, then I fear our union will pay a price and incur a cost that may be immeasurable.
Why so strong? Why so strident? (more…)
Tags: addressing fraud, AIG, Arlen Specter, Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke, bill thomas, Brooksley Born, caveat emptor, CDS, Charles Keating, Conspiracy of Fools, control frauds, Dick Cheney, economic theory, efficient market hypothesis r, Enron scandal, Fannie Mae, FCIC, Financial crisis inquiry commission, financial frauds, fraud in our economy, frauds, Freddie Mac, George Akerlof, George W. Bush, Goldman Sachs, Hank Paulson, heather murren, how to address fraud, IBG YBG, indict fraudsters, investigating fraud, James Stewart's Den of Thieves, Joe Biden, John K. Galbraith, John Paulson, Kurt Eichenwald, Levy Economics Institute, liar loans, Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. chair in Government Business Relations, market discipline, Mary Schapiro, Nelson's Eye, neutron loans, ninja loans, Paul Romer, Peter Fisher, phil angelides, rational expectations, Representative Doggett, Robert Johnson, Savings and loan fraud, SEC, speculation, systemic fraud, Thomas Ferguson, Tim Geithner, University of Texas, Wall Street, Washington, William K. Black
Posted in General | 4 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 8th, 2010 11:51 AM |
On Christmas Eve 2009, the Obama administration provided a blank check to the wards of the state known as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. (“Fannie and Freddie’s Huge Christmas Bonus”)
What other quasi-government institutions have a very similar business profile as Freddie and Fannie? The Federal Home Loan Bank system, acronym FHLBs, commonly referred to within the financial industry as FLUBs. I will reserve comment on that moniker. Ten months ago, I questioned whether the dynamics at work within the FHLB system would be the equivalent of what has transpired at Freddie and Fannie. I wrote “Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae Deja Vu?” and highlighted:
Can our economy absorb another financial hit of the magnitude of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae? (more…)
Tags: Bloomberg Jonathan Weil, Fannie Mae, FASB, FASB relaxation of mark to market, Federal Home Loan Banks, FHLB Atlanta, FHLB Boston, FHLB Chicago, FHLB Dallas, FHLB Des Moines, FHLB New York, FHLB San Francisco, FHLB Seattle, FHLB system, FHLB Topeka, FHLBs, financial accounting, FLUBs, Freddie Mac, Housing Crisis, Mortgage Crisis, mortgage problems, Putting Perfume on a Pig, shell game, Subsidyscope
Posted in General | 4 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 7th, 2010 3:41 PM |
Does anybody have any doubt that massive fraud within our mortgage industry played a large part in our current economic crisis? America continues to suffer from the fakers and phonies within our financial regulatory structure (including Alan Greenspan) who fail to accept responsibility for their shortcomings and the resultant frauds.
The mortgage fraud grew over time in order to feed the Wall Street machine the collateral it needed to execute a wide array of structured transactions. This need for increasing volume of mortgage originations was a critical point in one of my earliest blog posts written in November 2008, “The Wall Street Model is Broken… and Won’t Soon be Fixed!!” I wrote: (more…)
Tags: Alan Greenspan, Citigroup, Citigroup consumer lending, Citigroup Underwriter Warned of Mortgage Lapses, David Bushnell, Fannie Mae, FCIC, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission April 7 2010, financial frauds, financial regulators, Freddie Mac, Gary Crittenden, Mortgage Crisis, mortgage fraud, mortgage originations, Mortgages, originate to distribute, private profit social loss, Richard Bowen, Richard Bowen testimony April 7 2010, Robert Rubin
Posted in Citigroup, General, Mortgage Crisis | 5 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 11th, 2010 2:08 PM |
…shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me!!!
There are a handful of financial journalists who pull no punches in telling the absolute truth and in providing real transparency. Bloomberg’s Jonathan Weil holds a special spot in the Sense on Cents Hall of Fame for his determination in calling people and institutions on the carpet. From Wall Street to Washington to around the global financial landscape, Weil leaves no stone unturned in promoting integrity. His commentary today is superb. Please share it with friends. Weil writes, Greece Lifts a Page From Citigroup’s Playbook:
Is it too much to ask for the world’s titans of government and finance to speak credibly when they open their mouths? (more…)
Tags: Ambac Financial, balance sheets, Bear Stearns, Ben Bernanke, cds in europe, credit default swaps in europe, Dick Fuld, Fannie Mae, financial regulatory reform, fool me once, Freddie Mac, GAO, George Papandreou, Greece, Greece Lifts a Page from Citigroup's Playbook, Hank Paulson, herb allison, jonathan Weil, Lehman Bros, rating agencies, SEC, Sense on Cents Hall of Fame, too big to fail, transparency, Treasury, Vikram Pandit
Posted in General | 2 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 4th, 2010 12:33 PM |
According to testimony this morning from Treasury official Herb Allison, currently charged with overseeing the management of the TARP, there are no financial firms now guaranteed as ‘too big to fail.’
What rock did Herb just crawl out from?
The Wall Street Journal addresses Herb’s ridiculous comment in writing, Treasury Official: ‘No Too Big to Fail Guarantee’ for Big Financial Firms:
There is no U.S. government guarantee to protect the largest financial firms, a Treasury Department official said Thursday, as a congressional watchdog criticized the $45 billion in government aid provided to Citigroup Inc. (more…)
Tags: Allison Congressional testimony March 4 2010, Citigroup Vikram Pandit Congressional testimony March 4 2010, Damon Silvers, Elizabeth Warren, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, herb allison, Herbert Allison, TARP, tbtf, too big to fail, Treasury Official:'No Too Big to Fail Guarantee' for Big Financial Firms, U.S. Treasury, U.S. Treasury Herb Allison testimony March 4 2010
Posted in General, U.S. Treasury | 1 Comment »
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