One week and $2 billion to go … So the program is essentially over. We should be watching to see if 10 Year Treasury yields rise – and if mortgages take “a beating”. From the Atlanta Fed weekly Financial Highlights released today (as of last week): Click on graph for…

IMPORTANT note from CR : The following is from long time reader Shnaps (the views are his). Shnaps has been working in the mortgage industry in various capacities “since people were extending the antennas on their mobile phones”. Shnaps currently serves in a key role related to HAMP at…

Bank of America says it’s going to forgive up to 30% of some mortgage debt to help keep struggling borrowers from losing their homes. But there’s a hitch: It’s by “invitation only.” The bank is offering this to delinquent borrowers whose mortgage balance is at least 20% above what the homes are…

I find that my passions are cyclic. I have about three or four things I’m deeply passionate about, but the time I have in my average day doesn’t afford me the space to follow up on each of those things to the level I’d like. So I cycle a…

The DOL reports on weekly unemployment insurance claims : In the week ending March 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 442,000, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 456,000. The 4-week moving average was 453,750, a decrease of 11,000 from the previous…

First, in recent foreclosure news: BofA to forgive some mortgage debt Foreclosures are ‘flying off the market’   First American sued for $535 million in loan losses Every week, homes throughout Orange County go to foreclosure auctions. The owners can be millions of dollars in debt, or owe just…

From Sewell Chan at the NY Times: China Says It Will Not Adjust Policy on the Exchange Rate After meeting with officials at the Treasury and Commerce Departments on Wednesday, China’s deputy commerce minister, Zhong Shan, told reporters, “The Chinese government will not succumb to foreign pressures to adjust our…

From Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn: Homework Assignments for Monetary Policymakers Kohn’s assignments: 1) “One assignment is to evaluate the implications of the changing character of financial markets for the design of the liquidity tools the Federal Reserve has at its disposal when panic-driven runs on banks and other key…

Following my attendance at the annual China Development Forum, including a private session for Western delegates with Premier Wen Jiabao, I believe China and the United States may be on a collision course over Beijing’s insistence that it will not allow the value of the renminbi (RMB) to rise.…

1) New Home sales. New Home sales were at a record low in February. The weather might be partially to blame for the February record, but the reality is there are just too many existing home units available – so new home sales and single family housing starts will be…