Thoughts & Comments And Quick Takes

Bailing Out the Speculators

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:00:00

The government's loan modification program gets a wrong-headed new twist

A Shadow Over Housing's Shadow Inventory

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:00:00

Plenty of it will be absorbed by pent-up new demand and an absence of new supply

In Runoff, And At A Deep Discount

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:00:00

Primus delists from the NYSE--and its stock suddenly becomes a bargain

Memo To GOP Candidates: Enough With The Bernanke Bashing

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:00:00

He's doing a great job. If you doubt it, check out what's going on in Europe.

A Big Whiff By The Credit Unions

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:00:00

"National Transfer Day" turns out to be an even bigger dud than anyone thought

The Democrats' Proposed "Fee" On Lenders Is Really A Tax

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 12:00:00

The Democrats try to stick it to the middle class without anyone noticing.

Martha Coakley's Lawsuit Is A Monumentally Bad Idea

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 12:00:00

It won't help borrowers. It will hurt them.

Good Riddance, Barney Frank

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:00:00

The "smartest man in Congress" wreaked havoc on millions of lives

Not Lack of Capital. Lack of Liquidity.

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:00:00

What causes bank panics. . . .

More Stress-Test Nuttiness

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:00:00

There's a more sensible tool to make sure banks are strong enough. The feds have been using it for years.

Welcome to the Golden Age of Small-Business Banking

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:00:00

The opportunity is huge--but capitalizing on it won't be easy

Wall Street Whiff

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:00:00

Mike Mayo's new book is long on bombast, short on insights

The Big Bucks For Regulators Needs To Stop

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:00:00

The federal government is paying these people way too much money

Another Harebrained Mortgage Plan From the White House

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:00:00

If anything, it will make things worse than they are now

Dodd-Frank Is Good For Small Banks? Not A Chance.

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:00:00

Regardless of what the Treasury Department is arguing. . . .

$11 Million in Severance? For Sallie Krawcheck and Joe Price?

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:00:00

The world has gone mad

Lots and Lots of Loopholes

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 12:00:00

There are plenty of ways consumers can avoid banks' new fees

Even More Useless Than First Thought, If You Can Believe It

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 12:00:00

The Small Business Lending Fund was a failure every step of the way

Senator Durbin Ought To Lay Off Bank of America

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:00:00

And President Obama needs to learn the way the world works. Neither man's jaw-boning is doing the banking system--or the economy--much good.

Stalling, Ignoring, and Changing the Rules

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:00:00

One banker's experience with the Small Business Lending Fund. It's not encouraging.

Two Months Into the Job, and the CFPB Already Has Its Nanny Hat On

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:00:00

That sure didn't take long. . .

The Small Business Lending Fund Ends With A Thud

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 12:00:00

59% of applicants declined. Just $4.3 billion funded. What was the point?

More Taxpayer Losses, But Not Many Long-Term Jobs

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:00:00

That's what the White House's planned "Infrastructure Bank" will produce. Fannie and Freddie redux.

Treasury’s SBLF Fiasco

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:00:00

It's official. Government bureaucrats can't even figure out how to give money away.

A Nutty Plan To Boost Corporate Hiring and Investment

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 12:00:00

Joe Nocera's proposal makes no sense

ONE MORE REASON TO BE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:00:00

Great news for the housing market: Once the economy picks up in earnest, the country could see a mini-boom in divorces, Matt Yglesias says. Think of the wonders that would do for household formation. . . .

YOUR DODD-FRANK FEEL-GOOD STORY OF THE DAY

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:00:00

Oh, the mysteries of Dodd-Frank. Now it turns out that CLO managers (who bundle, resell, and manage portfolios of bank loans) will be subject to its 5% retention rule related

PLUS, THINGS WORKED OUT SO WELL THE LAST TIME BANKS ALL OWNED THE SAME TYPE OF ASSET CLASS

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:00:00

Bloomberg reports that the U.S. regulators are considering cutting some slack to foreign governments that have objections to the Volcker Rule: U.S. banking regulators are

BIG JOB CUTS COMING AT THE BIG BANKS--BUT IN A GOOD WAY

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:00:00

Where can banks find earnings leverage in the new, ever-more-regulated Dodd-Frank world? For starters, by spending less on dealing with delinquent mortgages as the housing mess winds down: The chief executives of JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America Corp, the two biggest U.S. banks, said this month their

RATINGS AGENCY FINDS NEW WAY TO LOOK HAPLESS

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:00:00

It’s official! One of the ratings agencies admits it doesn’t know what the heck it’s doing: Moody’s Investors Service “did not have any understanding” that MF Global, the failed futures broker, had placed a $6.3bn proprietary bet on the debt of troubled European sovereigns until about a week before the brokerage filed

THE TECHNICAL TERM IS POOLING EQUILIBRIA

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:00:00

Crowing in his State of the Union address last night that, because of the Affordable Care Act, health insurers no longer have “unchecked power to

IT TURNS OUT DE-LEVERAGING IN THE U.S. MAY NOT TAKE FOREVER, AFTER ALL

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:00:00

How goes the de-leveraging of the developed world? McKinsey has the answer: [M]ajor economies have only just begun deleveraging. In only three of the largest mature economies—the United States, Australia,

STRAWS-IN-THE-WIND WATCH, HOUSING MARKET DIVISION

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:00:00

In Arizona, consumer confidence jumps for the third quarter in a row; highest since May of 2008. . . .

GUESS WHO ELSE THINKS THE VOLCKER RULE IS A BAD IDEA

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:00:00

It turns out it’s not just self-interested, profit-hungry banks that have issues with the Volcker Rule. Financial regulators outside the U.S. aren’t so crazy about it, either. And

DIMON: "WE HAVE SEEN THE WORST" ON HOUSING

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:00:00

Jamie Dimon tells Maria Bartiromo he’s constructive on housing: Q: What about housing in the U.S.? A: We have seen the worst. We are at the bottom. . . . [T]he early indicators tell you a lot about where it will be in 18 months

SURPRISE! REGULATORS ARE BEING REGULATORS

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:00:00

What’s keeping bank credit from flowing? Regulators covering their keisters. CNBC reports: “You’re being examined right now, not on what the agencies are saying in Washington,” said one executive of a small northeastern bank who, like others in this article, asked not to be identified. “You are being examined in light of an examiner

‘WHY DO THEY EVEN RATE GOVERNMENT DEBT AT ALL?’

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:00:00

Quote of the Day: at the Daily Beast, Zachary Karabell wants to know who the rating agncies think they are rating sovereign debt. There is only one rational solution to the looming threat posed

ALL FACTS RELATED TO B OF A MUST BE BEARISH

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:00:00

At SeekingAlpha, contributor “StockCroc” is not enamored with Bank of America: . . . BAC is trading at a deep discount of 71% to its book value per share. This indicates that many of its assets may in fact have inflated values or be worthless as management is unable to effectively utilize them to generate increasing

BANKS' NEW FEES A LOT LIKE THEIR OLD FEES, ONLY BIGGER

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:00:00

Some things never change . . . because, well, sometimes they can’t: Many bank customers have long felt nickeled-and-dimed by fees imposed by financial institutions. But now some banks are demanding much bigger denominations.

WHAT DO MEREDITH WHITNEY, BEN STEIN, AND MICHAEL MOORE ALL HAVE IN COMMON?

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:00:00

David Weidner provides an answer. . . .

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE VALUES PERKING ALONG NICELY, THANKS VERY MUCH

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:00:00

The domino that did not fall: U.S. commercial real estate values are drifting sideways after a two-year rally, analysts say. Prices for offices, shopping centers and

THE MORTGAGE LENDING BUSINESS SURE ISN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:00:00

Steve Malanga makes the point—obvious, when you think about it—that a key barrier to recovery in the housing market is the structural change that’s occurred in the mortgage lending industry since the housing bubble burst. . . . .The housing market's systems and infrastructure

CASE-SHILLER'S CASE ON THE HOUSING MARKET: NOW IS "A TERRIFIC TIME TO BUY"

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:00:00

James B. Stewart asks Karl Case, co-creator of the Case-Shiller home price index, about the outlook for housing, and finds Case to be the opposite of bearish: The 20-city composite index of home prices hit bottom in March 2011 and has improved modestly since. “Household formation is increasing and the vacancy rate is dropping,” [Case] said. “Housing starts are at a 60-year

AND YOU WONDER WHY THE GOVERNMENT'S LOAN MOD EFFORTS ARE HEADED NOWHERE. THIS IS A LOT BETTER DEAL.

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:00:00

Default as windfall. From CNN/Money: Delinquent borrowers facing foreclosure are learning that they can stay in their homes for years, as long as they're willing to put up

GROWTH IN CREDIT UNIONS THIS YEAR EXISTS MAINLY IN REPORTERS' HEADS

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:00:00

One of the financial media’s favorite themes to come out of the Occupy movement has been The Rise of the Credit Union. Remember “Bank Transfer Day”? That was when the Occupiers and their like-minded pals were supposed to pull money

TREASURY DEPT. TOTALLY BLEW IMPLEMENTATION OF SBLF, GAO CONFIRMS

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:00:00

I’m not the only one complaining about the way the Treasury Department carried out the fiasco that was the Small Business Lending Fund. The GAO wasn’t thrilled, either: Lack of clarity about the requirements for the Small Business Lending Fund that was established last year by the Small Business

THE PROBLEM WITH THE VOLCKER RULE: IT SOLVES NO PROBLEMS AND MAKES THINGS WORSE

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:00:00

At NYU’s ThinkMarkets, Chidem Kurdas gets to the heart of what’s the matter with the Volcker Rule. It will restrict credit and make it more expensive: Banks are shutting down their proprietary trading. You may believe that is all for the best. But as people warned back when the Volcker rule first came up, there is no clear demarcation between prop trading and market making for clients

ALSO, SOMEONE GET TOM GOLISANO SOME BICARBONATE OF SODA

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:00:00

I love complaining about liberal media bias as much as anyone, but the collection of pro-the-1% quotes that Max Abelson has collected from the leading

PAYDAY LENDERS ARE HARDER TO PUT OUT OF BUSINESS THAN OHIO REGULATORS THOUGHT

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:00:00

Innovation is alive and well in the payday loan industry: On Nov. 4, 2008, “Ohio voters stripped payday lenders of their permit to fleece working people,” said Bill Faith, one of the leaders of a successful

WHOA. ARE THOSE ELEPHANTS I SEE FLYING UP THERE?

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:00:00

Heaven help me, Paul Krugman is making sense. . .