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HomeMortgage Foreclosure Abuse: The Fight Continues
Posted by Larry Doyle on January 27th, 2014 8:28 AM |
I wish I had the silver bullet to address and fix the rampant abusive practices that have transpired within the mortgage servicing entities of many of our large banks and elsewhere.
I don’t.
That said, the ongoing problematic issues within mortgage servicing practices remain prevalent. How do I know? I hear from people entangled in this mess on an ongoing basis.
In my opinion, these issues go right to the core of what I believe is the problem with the structure of our banking industry in America today. That problem centers on the fact that we have a few banks (e.g., JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo) that dominate the market, especially within the mortgage realm.
As many longtime readers of my blog are aware, this economic structure known as an oligopoly allows, if not promotes, the following abusive type practices: (more…)
The Wall Street Oligopoly at Work in the Oil Markets
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 19th, 2013 9:24 AM |
Information is everything. Unparalleled access to information and the hoarding of the data collected are cornerstone principles of an economic system that is defined as an oligopoly.
How does this work? Rather than my writing, let’s take a quick 2-minute view of what is going on within the oil markets. (more…)
The Volcker Rule: Comments and Questions
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 10th, 2013 6:02 AM |
The big news on Wall Street today is the reemergence of the Volcker Rule intended to make our banking system safer from the perils of proprietary trading activity.
The question that America will hear bandied about until it makes your head spin is “What exactly defines proprietary trading?”
My ‘sense on cents’ response is that not unlike pornography, proprietary trading might be hard to define but you know it when you see it. Let’s review and cross-examine The Wall Street Journal’s take on this newly proposed rule which attempts to accomplish the following: (more…)
Will ‘Too Big to Fail’ Banks Charge for Deposits?
Posted by Larry Doyle on November 25th, 2013 9:38 AM |
$82 billion.
What does that figure represent? The subsidy (aka competitive advantage) that accrues to our major banking institutions from favorable borrowing rates given their status as ‘too big to fail.’
Those tens of billions of dollars truly represent a nice, big head start for a handful of banks, and a withering assault on the precepts of free market capitalism for the rest of us.
As if $82 billion were not enough of a subsidy, let’s not forget that these banks pay you, as a depositor, virtually zero interest for the ‘privilege’ of holding your money there. Well, that may be changing. How so? How would you like to actually pay interest to the banks in order to keep your money in their institutions? Really? No way?
Yes way. (more…)
Dodd-Frank Derivative Reform: Dead on Arrival
Posted by Larry Doyle on September 5th, 2013 8:59 AM |
While many in Washington and elsewhere will look to collect political points for bringing reform to Wall Street, those watching closely knew all too well that the blueprints for this reform were always subject to massive change.
So has Dodd-Frank brought real reform to Wall Street? If you believe so, I would invite you to become a charter member of The Gullible Club.
Let’s dispense with the formalities. Wall Street ultimately answers to nobody but itself. As such, we can unload another truckload of dirt over the casket holding Dodd-Frank.
While many observers of the financial and political scenes are not inclined to draw attention to this service, fortunately those at Bloomberg view this funereal undertaking more seriously. I thank them as they recently pulled back the cloak on Dodd-Frank to reveal a Wall Street dagger protruding from its midst. (more…)
Wall Street & ML Baseball: A Common Thread
Posted by Larry Doyle on September 4th, 2013 10:07 AM |
With the five year anniversary of the demise of Lehman Brothers right around the corner, a financial reporter from a major news outlet reached out to me yesterday to get my take on the current situation on Wall Street.
He was interested in touching upon the current culture within the industry and what has changed.
We had a fair bit to discuss and I was not bashful. (more…)
Manipulating Electricity: When Will Madness End?
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 22nd, 2013 7:25 AM |
Do readers recall how the morally depraved crowd at Enron manipulated the electricity markets so aggressively in California in 2000 as to force the state to implement rolling blackouts?
I am assuming there are some in our audience who not only remember the rolling blackouts, but actually lived through them.
Market manipulation of a basic good or service is a destructive force like none other. Many in America and around the world will dismiss the manipulation that goes on in a structured products market, such as mortgage-backed securities or auction-rate securities. They will similarly dismiss the clandestine dealings within the credit derivatives space or the arcane world of high-frequency trading. (more…)
More Price Fixing on Wall Street?
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 27th, 2013 6:17 AM |
Here we go again.
With the investigation of the greatest financial fraud ever perpetrated on Wall Street — that being the manipulation of Libor — still in the early stages, news emanating from Europe this morning redirects the shadow from that organized activity into the dark and dank world of credit derivatives, aka CDS.
Recall that cornerstone principles of an industry that operates as an oligopoly are: (more…)
“How Washington Hurts Small Community Banks”
Posted by Larry Doyle on January 31st, 2013 9:52 AM |
The other day I addressed the current David vs Goliath situation in the banking industry and presented The Case for Community Banks. There is no doubt that the crisis that emanated on Wall Street required some real regulatory attention. Regrettably the “one size fits all” regulatory changes embedded in Dodd-Frank is not the answer. Not that people in Washington with little background in markets and the economy might understand that.
Let’s listen to former Inspector General for the TARP, Neil Barofsky, who provides a brief 2-minute dose of ‘sense on cents’ on how Washington has hurt the small community banks in our country. Props to American Banker for this clip.
Larry Doyle
Isn’t it time or overtime to subscribe to all my work via e-mail, an RSS feed, on Twitter or Facebook.
I have no business interest with any entity referenced in this commentary. The opinions expressed are my own. I am a proponent of real transparency within our markets so that investor confidence and investor protection can be achieved.
David vs Goliath: The Case for Community Banks
Posted by Larry Doyle on January 29th, 2013 9:19 AM |
While the mega-banks on Wall Street flex their oligopolistic muscles (price controls, imperfect information, not sharing data), I want to take this opportunity to throw some support to the Davids of the banking world.
Who are these Davids? The community banks. Do you feel like you get a lot of personal touch and proper attention from Goliath? Really? How about from David?
Let’s navigate and review a compellingly detailed analysis recently released by the Dallas Fed. (more…)
