MUST READ: The Geopolitics Of China – By George Friedman – John Mauldin’s Investors Insight

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Washington State Bill Could Hurt Reverse Mortgage Lending – … which according to Washington Administrative Code (WAC 208-620-010) expressly precludes the compounding of interest, or negative amortization.  Since all reverse mortgages are negative amortization loans this would adversely impact reverse mortgage lending.   .. – Reverse Mortgage Daily 

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Newer Subprime Auto Loans Faring Worse Than Older Ones – Automobile loan performance for higher risk borrowers in the US deteriorated further in April, with worrisome signs that more recent loans are faring worse than older ones.  In April 2008, Moody’s All Pools Market Index for subprime auto loans rose 1.7% to 165.6, implying lifetime losses 65.6% higher than the benchmark level …  – Research Recap 

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lots of details – Foreclosures Up 48% in May – Barry Ritholtz – RealtyTrac, which assembles foreclosure data on a state and national basis, notes that one in every 483 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during the month of May. This is the highest monthly foreclosure rate since they began tracking foreclosures in January 2005.
Here’s the breakdown …..   – The Big Picture
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ANWR Drilling: Lower Oil Prices, More Jobs, More Tax Revenues, and Union Support: What’s Not to Like? – Mark Perry – has interesting comments – Carpe Diem

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Standard Pacific:  Another Subprime Securities Lawsuit Dismissal – Kevin LaCroix -  D&O Diary 

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Data on Housing Relief Questioned -  By David Cho and Renae Merle – Banks and mortgage firms are providing questionable information about the number of subprime mortgage borrowers they are helping and the rate at which homeowners are falling into foreclosure, according to the top regulator for the nation’s largest banks.  – thanks Carolyn Coppedge – Washington Post Staff Writers

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Flipping for Profit – Matt Woolsey – Kirk Leipzig is turning foreclosed homes into cash. All it takes is legwork, a line of credit and a lack of emotion -  Forbes 

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Incentives Killed CDOs but CLOs Will Live – An interesting article by Vipal Mongra, entitled “In death, afterlife,” appeared in The Deal on Monday predicting the future of Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs).  – By The Prince of Wall Street

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FBR’s Youngblood to Leave, Will Start Mortgage Fund – PAUL JACKSON – thanks MK -  … who said Friday that he was leaving the investment research firm to launch — what else? — his own mortgage fund.   … – housingwire

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Oil, whither goest thou? -  Prieur du Plessis – … A report from Rob Fraim (Mid-Atlantic Securities, Inc) has just arrived in my inbox and is worth perusing for two reasons: (1) Rob’s good track record in this sphere, and (2) his common-sense approach and findings with which I mostly concur. The paragraphs below are extracts from his excellent report. … – Investment Postcards from Cape Town 

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GMAC spent $410000 lobbying on mortgage rules – … The company lobbied on bills that would raise the limits on government-insured mortgages and allow judges to alter mortgage loans for homeowners in bankruptcy, both top priorities for consumer groups. … – AP – Forbes

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Whip Inflation Now - the impact of raising rates to fight inflation – John Mauldin’s Weekly E-Letter 

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IRA ARTMAN SECTION – thanks Ira:

Don’t Fear the Bubble – Speculative booms and busts are actually good for the long-term health of the economy. Here’s why – Chris Farrell – BusinessWeek

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Yanked from Obscurity: Why Finance Experts Are Rethinking LIBOR – First, U.S. Bankers raised questions about how the daily London Interbank Offered Rate was calculated, and then The Wall Street Journal demonstrated that the rate was inexplicably diverging from what the data suggested it ought to be. Getting it right is important, because LIBOR is the basis for many kinds of loans. The British Bankers Association says it will make changes. – Knowledge@Wharton 

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cold turkey time – CREDIT CRUNCH? WHAT CREDIT CRUNCH? – Christopher Grey – … We do not have a real credit crunch. What we have is a liquidity trap created by the excessively accommodative policies of the Federal Reserve combined with an excess of capital in oil producing countries that have benefited from the spiraling energy inflation created as a result of the Fed’s excessive money printing, which destroyed the value of the dollar. In  … – The Slatin Report 

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OCC Releases New Mortgage Metrics Report.-  On June 11, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released the first OCC Mortgage Metrics Report. The report analyzes national bank mortgage loan data for loans held or serviced by nine national banks between October 1, 2007 and March 31, 2008. The report reviews first residential mortgages involved in delinquencies, loss mitigation, or foreclosure and provides information on delinquencies and loss mitigation on a month-to-month basis during the report time frame. -   Press release       Report   

posted by Bill Coppedge