From Brian Sack, Executive Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York: Preparing for a Smooth (Eventual) Exit . Excerpts on MBS: The Federal Reserve is approaching the scheduled end of its large-scale asset purchases. We have bought $169 billion of agency debt to date, nearly fulfilling our plan to…
If you thought Snowmageddon distorted the employment figures in February, just wait until March. (ht JH) The BLS could report a March headline number of 200,000 net payroll jobs, and that could be viewed as a weak report. The March report will be distorted by two factors: 1) any bounce…
2010 has seen a ton of books released already that I’d love to read, from The Politician by Andrew Young to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. (I happen to be passionate about books, of course – perhaps your passion is films or video games or…
Homeowners who are in over their heads but have been unsuccessful at getting a loan modification may get some different help from Uncle Sam — $1,500 to move if they sell for less than they paid for the house, reports the New York Times . Under the Obama Administration…
My two year old daughter is showing a tremendous nascent interest in making music. She sings constantly . She uses her hands as percussion all the time on her knees, on the table, and anywhere else she can use them. She climbs up to our keyboard and attempts to…
The expected market time for foreclosures in Orange County is ”a mind numbing 1.14 months, a deep seller’s market,” says Steve Thomas of Altera Real Estate in his bi-weekly analysis of local real estate. Foreclosures make up 33% of the housing inventory in the county. Thomas says: “Foreclosures remain the hot ticket.…
You may notice a few changes on our blog over the next week or so. I realize that there are a few missing links and contributors, but this is still a work in progress. Just didn’t want anyone thinking we were sitting around on the job. If you have…
Before signing on the dotted line, you need to know whether there are disadvantages to a reverse mortgage. It’s important to realize that reverse mortgage lenders are in business to make as much money as possible. The loan that you have taken out is secured by your home until…
A couple of articles tonight that fit together with my earlier post: Housing: A Tale of Boom and Bust and a Puzzle The puzzle is when the banks will start moving ahead with distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales). First David Streitfeld at the NY Times writes about the Treasury’s…
The Financial Times reports: Big bank oversight to stay with Fed Chris Dodd … is set to propose this week that the 23 largest institutions stay under the Fed’s oversight … At issue … was the regulation of several hundred state chartered institutions that also want to remain under the…