mortgage backed securities

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Bailout Czar Kashkari Joins World's Big Money Elite

After brisk rise through Treasury, 35-year-old has purse to rival largest sovereign funds

(Newser) - A behind-the-scenes player at the Treasury Department just weeks ago, 35-year-old Neel Kashkari’s financial heft as the agency’s bailout czar puts him on par with the heads of sovereign wealth funds, Politico reports. The self-described “free-market Republican” enjoyed a meteoric rise through the department, where he was...

GOP Is Brilliant at Blaming the Victim: Frank
GOP Is Brilliant at Blaming the Victim: Frank
OPINION
Oct 1, 2008 1:22 PM CDT

GOP Is Brilliant at Blaming the Victim: Frank

Conservatives can't admit deregulation has failed, says Frank

(Newser) - Even in a financial crisis obviously precipitated by an orgy of deregulation, writes Wall Street Journal columnist Thomas Frank, the right has done a spectacular job deflecting blame. Looking to point the finger at something other than "unbridled pecuniary motives," conservatives have targeted Democrat-friendly Fannie Mae and Freddie...

O'Neill on Bush: He Doesn't Get It, and 'It Shows'

Former treasury chief says leaders are acting out of 'panic'

(Newser) - Former Treasury chief Paul O'Neill doesn't have a lot of confidence in the ability of his old boss to find a financial solution, ABC News reports. “I don’t think he understands or knows much about any of this and it shows,” O’Neill said of President Bush....

The GOP Plan: Less Regulation, Private Funding

Bush, Paulson, Dems reject conservative counterproposal

(Newser) - When John Boehner scuppered the nearly-sealed bailout deal at yesterday's meeting, the House minority leader proposed an alternative plan: a bank-financed insurance system that would rescue individual mortgages. Under the GOP proposal, the government would not buy up the toxic mortgage-backed securities at the heart of the crisis but instead...

Paulson Outlines His 'Bold' Bailout
Paulson
Outlines His
'Bold' Bailout
Sep 19, 2008 10:10 AM CDT

Paulson Outlines His 'Bold' Bailout

He and Bush say it's urgent to act now to stabilize markets

(Newser) - Henry Paulson confirmed today that he is working on a "bold" plan to buy bad loans from banks, the Wall Street Journal reports. Such a plan would cost taxpayers “hundreds of billions of dollars,” Paulson said, but he believes it is necessary to stabilize the economy. “...

Feds Search for WaMu Buyer
 Feds Search for WaMu Buyer 
Sep 17, 2008 1:06 PM CDT

Feds Search for WaMu Buyer

Falling share price stokes worries of a bank run

(Newser) - Washington Mutual, America's largest savings and loan, may be the next big financial institution to fail, the New York Post reports. Fearing a run on the struggling bank, federal regulators placed calls yesterday gauging interest in a WaMu buyout to Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, HSBC, and others, but no...

Dow Gains 303 Points; Oil Drops
 Dow Gains 303 Points; Oil Drops 
MARKETS
Aug 8, 2008 3:41 PM CDT

Dow Gains 303 Points; Oil Drops

Fannie's losses don't phase market

(Newser) - A big rally topped a rollercoaster week today as the markets surged on a drop in oil of nearly $5 a barrel, MarketWatch reports. The Dow gained 302.89 points to close at 11,734.32, the Nasdaq rose 58.37 to 2,414.10, and the S&P 500...

Greenspan to Government: Hands Off
Greenspan to Government: Hands Off
OPINION
Aug 5, 2008 1:15 PM CDT

Greenspan to Government: Hands Off

Market capitalism can ride out the crisis, writes former Fed boss

(Newser) - The credit crisis is far from over, and more banks and financial institutions might require government bailouts along the way, Alan Greenspan acknowledges. The crunch will relax only when home prices, "the ultimate collateral support for much of the financial world’s mortgage-backed securities," begin to stabilize, the...

Financial Faith Is Crisis' Top Casualty
 Financial Faith Is 
 Crisis' Top Casualty 
ANALYSIS
Aug 4, 2008 2:35 PM CDT

Financial Faith Is Crisis' Top Casualty

One year in, credit crunch has upset all expectations about modern markets

(Newser) - Last summer, central banks injected hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial system, desperate to restore liquidity to battered markets. But by then the credit crunch was on—and after 12 months, it shows no signs of abating. The Financial Times looks at how risky US mortgages set off...

Merrill Panic May Mark Bottom of Stock Market
Merrill Panic May Mark Bottom of Stock Market
analysis
Aug 1, 2008 10:30 AM CDT

Merrill Panic May Mark Bottom of Stock Market

Once regaled for cavalier confidence, CEO's chief cuts losses

(Newser) - Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain has seen better days, Floyd Norris writes in the New York Times. He's gone from “cockiness to capitulation. Distinction to desperation.” Thain recently unloaded a bundle of his company’s securities for 22 cents on the dollar and raised $8.5 billion from...

Mortgage Rates Surge to 5-Year High

Problems with Freddie, Fannie threaten further woes for housing market

(Newser) - Mortgage rates rose yesterday to a 5-year high of 6.71% as investors worried that—even with government intervention—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac wouldn’t play as big a role in the $12 trillion US mortgage market as in the past, reports the New York Times. The rising rates...

Could-Have-Been-Worse News Now Cheers Wall Street
Could-Have-Been-Worse News Now Cheers Wall Street
ANALYSIS
Jul 23, 2008 5:56 AM CDT

Could-Have-Been-Worse News Now Cheers Wall Street

A year into crisis, analysts redefine once-shocking news as not so bad

(Newser) - Yesterday's announcements of multibillion-dollar losses at Wachovia and Washington Mutual were only the latest poundings since the credit crisis took hold a year ago. Yet Wall Street, its expectations at rock bottom, cheered the reports because they could have been worse. Shares in WaMu, which posted a $3.3 billion...

UBS Cuts 5,500 Jobs, Sells Off $15B in Assets

Swiss bank prepares to lay off over 2,000 investment bankers

(Newser) - UBS will cut 5,500 jobs, slightly fewer than expected, by the middle of 2009 as part of a major restructuring effort, the troubled Swiss bank said today in announcing an $11-billion first-quarter loss. Some 2,600 of the layoffs will be among investment bankers, mostly in London and New...

No 'Reward' For Borrowers, Lenders: McCain

GOP candidate blasts risky mortgages, nixes government bailout

(Newser) - John McCain said today he opposes government action to bail out homeowners having trouble with their mortgages, the New York Times reports. McCain—who will receive Nancy Reagan's endorsement today—differentiated himself from both Democratic candidates, who have called for federal intervention, saying: “It is not the duty of...

Investors Urge Reluctant Fed to Buy Mortgage Debt

Critics say plan would put too much risk on taxpayers

(Newser) - The best way for the Fed to help reverse the sagging economy is for it to buy some of the $6 trillion in outstanding mortgage-backed securities that have Wall Street so nervous, investors say. The move would ease the credit crunch but put taxpayers at risk. It’s an option...

Hotline for At-Risk Loans Not So Helpful

Subprime victims find Hope Now Alliance doesn't live up to billing

(Newser) - A hotline aimed at helping distressed mortgage borrowers is frequently overwhelmed by caller volume and rarely able to provide substantive aid, MSNBC reports. The Hope Now Alliance—a group of lenders and community groups heavily promoted by President Bush—is designed to improve lender-borrower communication and modify mortgages, most commonly...

Feds Outline New, Tougher Credit Rules

Paulson pushes stricter standards for mortgage lenders

(Newser) - A panel led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is seeking a major overhaul of rules affecting mortgage lenders and a credit market decimated by risky subprime loans and loose oversight, the Wall Street Journal reports. Among panel recommendations to be released today:
  • Strengthen mortgage lender and broker oversight
  • Establish licensing
...

As Margin Calls Mount, Carlyle Holds 'Crisis Talks'

Private equity giant's subsidiary imperiled

(Newser) - The Carlyle Group is holding emergency talks with lenders to try to save its drowning Carlyle Capital division, the Washington Post reports. Creditors have decided that Carlyle’s portfolio of traditionally safe mortgage-backed securities holdings isn’t good enough in the current market, and they're demanding $400 million more in...

FBI Probes Countrywide for Fraud
FBI Probes Countrywide
for Fraud
Mar 9, 2008 5:00 AM CDT

FBI Probes Countrywide for Fraud

Feds seek evidence that subprime lender lied about quality of loans

(Newser) - The FBI has launched a securities fraud investigation against subprime mortgage lender Countrywide Financial for allegedly lying to investors about its financial status and the quality of its mortgage loans, reports the Wall Street Journal. The probe could extend to Wall Street firms that helped package more than $100 billion...

Goldman Analysts Warn of Next Crisis

Commercial real estate outlook even worse than subprime situation

(Newser) - Commercial real estate could be the next victim of the current economic downturn, and if it is, expect it to cause another full-fledged crisis, the Wall Street Journal reports. Commercial real estate values could fall as much as 26% over the next 2 years, Goldman Sachs analysts predict, leading to...

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