posted by Bill Coppedge 

1.  TSLF: TAF for Investment Banks - So you still want to know the difference between the TAF and the TSLF? -  The new repo line you talk about is nothing more than the TAF for the brokers who don’t have access to the TAF. -  Felix Salmon - Portfolio.com 

2.  Fixing the Mortgage Mess: Operation Twist, Take II -   REITwrecks.com 

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Gas Prices As Percent of Income Are Still Affordable  -  Mark Perry  - Carpe Diem 

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About MBIA’s Request for Fitch to Yank Ratings - … When the world is clamoring that debt rating agencies, which you pay, aren’t independent enough, the last thing you do is fire the one that appeared the be the most independent. …  Herb Greenberg - MarketWatch

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What’s That Hissing Sound? - The official number for employment suggested a loss of 63,000 jobs. But could it have been more like 200,000? And I will make a case for 2,000,000 lost jobs last month.  This week we will take a look at the confusing labor-market picture in the US. … - John Mauldin’s Weekly E-Letter 

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Home builders begin offering discounts  -  LA Times

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Buyers in high-priced markets get a hand - Boston Globe 

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Meme of the Day: 50% Housing Equity  - … The first question: why is everybody glomming on to this now? The number has now been below 50% for the past three quarters: it’s nothing new. … After all, there are actually very few people who have anywhere near 50% equity in their homes. Most homes are either paid off in full or else very highly mortgaged … - Felix Salmon - portfolio.com 

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1.  Deflation - negative real rates? - read this - Commodity prices and the Fed - If the Fed thinks that recent commodity price moves have nothing to do with their own actions, perhaps they should think again.  The yield on the 2-year Treasury fell yesterday to 1.5%. It’s impossible to imagine that the average inflation rate over the next two years could be less than 2%, meaning that the real interest rate– the nominal rate minus expected inflation– has become unambiguously negative. - James Hamilton - Econbrowser

2.  Negative Real Interest Rates and Asset Deflation -  gives David’s logic - David Merkel - The Aleph Blog

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Mortgage Crisis Bailout: Relief for Some, Risk for Others - thanks Ira Artman - Knowledge@Wharton 

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KENNETH HARNEY - Mortgage fees get broader disclosure - … dark corner of the mortgage business — splits of mortgage insurance premiums between lenders and insurers. … It is called “captive reinsurance,” and it has put $4 billion to $5 billion worth of consumers’ mortgage insurance dollars onto lenders’ books in recent years, according to industry estimates. … - Detroit Free Press 

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Citigroup’s Dividend Yield — Will It Surpass Pre-Cut Highs?  -  BIG 

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good summary of subprime problems - Back to the Future in the Credit Derivative Time Machine -  … In summary, problems that were initially estimated (other than by a few with foresight) to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars a year ago, have now grown to trillion dollar proportions today. … - Matt Blackman - seeking alpha

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this is important - New liquidity tactics from the FED on the asset side of the balance sheet:
1.  Monetary policy using the asset side of the Fed’s balance sheet - James Hamilton - Econbrowser

2.  Repurchase agreements and covert nationalization -  Steve Waldman - Interfluidity.com 

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No Reason for BofA - Countrywide Merger to Fail -  The M & A Researcher  -seeking alpha

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Reverse Mortgages - Top HECM Lenders in 2008 -  Reverse Mortgage Daily

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Mortgage lenders see more borrowers give up - I can’t get you to pay if you’ve got no skin in the game,” says Lauria, senior vice president of Popular Mortgage Servicing in Cherry Hill, NJ, … -  USA Today

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a proposal to fix the mess - A Deflating Bubble Can Lift All Boats - Christopher Whalen - Institutional Risk Analyst
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VIDEO: Professor Lawrence White discusses the rating agencies’ role in the subprime disaster and how their possible future changes might impact the US economy at large. - riskcenter.com free reg.         Part 1       Part 2 
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Frank Calls for ‘Prudent’ Write-Downs -  In a weekend op-ed, House Financial Services Committee chair Barney Frank calls for a “housing rescue,” saying that he wants the Federal government to mandate further write-downs to RMBS and related securities… - Paul Jackson -  housingwire