VIDEO - Energy Saver Light Bulbs - they are not as great as you would hope - thanks Susan Kulakowski - youtube

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about slowing prepayment speeds - Mortgage market’s other pitfall asserts itself - Al Yoon   - Reuters
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Commodity speculation fees? - Can the Media Talk About Taxing Speculation? - Dean Baker -  simple way around this problem to treat speculation like casino gambling, just tax it. A set of modest taxes on financial transactions (e.g. 0.2 percent on a future trade, 0.25 percent on a stock trade) could raise an enormous amount of money — on the order of $150 billion a year. It would have almost no impact on real investors, but it would take a big bite out of the hides of speculators. - prospect.org  

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A Tougher Time for Banks to Hunt for Money - thanks Carolyn Coppedge - DealBook NYT

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In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we have another conversation with Josh Rosner, principal of Graham Fisher in New York, about the outlook for the monoline insurers and ratings agency reform. 

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READ THIS - good summary - In Distressed Mortgages, MBS Investors Stuck in a Holding Pattern - PAUL JACKSON -  mentions National Asset Direct, BlackRock Inc. PennyMac, Marathon Asset Management, LLC … - housingwire

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Guggenheim Jumps into Whole Loan Mortgage Fray - AMY MCALISTER - …  it’s the latest firm to jump into the whole loan mix for distressed mortgages — the company will expand upon its existing specialized fixed-income capabilities with the addition of a whole loan group, it said in a press statement.  … - housingwire

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Is Google Making Us Stupid? - thanks Margaret - The Atlantic 

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good summary of GMAC’s $60 Billion Restructure - Deal Loses Confidence as Mortgages Burn Cash - Ari Levy and Caroline Salas - thanks Kevin Griffin - Bloomberg 

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lesson for ABX ????? - CMBX Index Causing Commercial Real Estate Capital to Dry Up - … The unintentional result was that the large amount of activity from the relatively small number of participants has overtaken the trading activity in the cash CMBS market and pushed spreads to the point where capital inflow to the CMBS sector has dried up. … - S&P - Research Recap 

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Rating agencies, downgrading guarantors, look to deflect blame for subprime mess - Tom Brown - They’re changing the rules on the guarantors in an attempt to save their own skins - bankstocks.com 

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OFHEO:  U.S. MONTHLY HOUSE PRICE INDEX FELL 0.8 PERCENT FROM MARCH TO APRIL - OFHEO

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U.S.-Backed Mortgage Program Fuels Risks - FHA Struggles To Eliminate Loans For Zero Down - NICK TIMIRAOS - Wall Street Journal 

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IRA ARTMAN found these - thanks Ira:

Fannie, Freddie Fail to Relieve Housing by Shunning Jumbo Loans - Dawn Kopecki -  … Instead of using powers granted by Congress to buy jumbo loans for the first time, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are purchasing their own mortgage-backed securities, helping reduce losses, company filings show.  … -   Bloomberg
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save this continuously updated - Special Report - Credit Market in Turmoil - Bloomberg 

posted by Bill Coppedge