funny – Somali Pirates to acquire Illinois Senate Seat – Rolfe Winkler – Option Armagaddeon at ML Implode

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1.  Instead Of Spending, Cut Taxes – Brian S. Wesbury and Robert Stein – Taking money from profitable companies to give to unprofitable ones will harm the economy. -  Forbes

2.  Chicago Merc Alive And Kicking -  Samuel Ro, Forbes Growth Investor – After tumbling to their lowest prices since 2005, shares of CME Group have good reason to rally

3.  another view:  Dollar Devaluation To Fix The Great Recession – Frank Beck – A quick dollar devaluation would work wonders for submerged borrowers. Don’t kid yourself: It could happen. – Forbes  

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1.  AIG owes $10 billion for soured trades: report – … The report, citing people familiar with the matter, says the trades have not been explicitly disclosed before, and are not covered by terms of a current $150 billion U.S. government rescue package. …- Reuters

2.  Fed to make 2nd agency debt purchase Friday – Reuters

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SIFMA And ASF Form US Covered Bonds Council – Exchange News Direct -  … The Council will be led by a steering committee comprised from a rotating group of issuers, investors, dealers and legal advisors. The initial steering committee will include representatives from Bank of America, Barclays Capital, BlackRock, The Capital Group Companies, Citi, Clifford Chance, Deutsche Bank Securities, J.P. Morgan, Merrill Lynch & Co., Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, PIMCO, RBS Greenwich Capital, Sidley Austin LLP, TIAA-CREF, and Wells Fargo.  … – MondoVisione

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Ex-Officer Faults Mortgage Giants for ‘Orgy’ of Nonprime Loans – LYNNLEY BROWNING – … But the testimony of Mr. Pinto, who was Fannie Mae’s chief credit officer in the late 1980s and who has studied the company’s financial statements, and other private analysts shed new light on the role of the housing giants in the subprime crisis.  That role has not been fully recognized, in part because many subprime and Alt-A loans show up in databases as prime loans.  … – NY Times

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Fed considers issuing debt for first time – Issuing debt would give the Federal Reserve increased flexibility in its quest to stabilize the financial system, but it also raises questions. The Fed already has the ability to print as much money as needed, and government debt issuance is a Treasury function. Fed officials, who already broached the idea with Congress, are searching for tools to battle the credit crunch and recession – Wall Street Journal 

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Why Chris Dodd is gunning for the banks – Detroit may get its bailout at last – but Wall Street could pay the ultimate price. – By Nina Easton – CNNMoney.com 

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Forecast: More Than 8 Million Foreclosures By 2012 – By DIANA GOLOBAY – housingwire

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Experienced Hard-Money Firms Savor Their Augmented Role  – by Jessica Lillian -  MortgageOrb

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‘Pay option’ mortgages could swell foreclosures – John W. Schoen – … “The next wave (of foreclosures) is coming next year and in 2010, and that is primarily due to these pay-option ARMS and the five-year, adjustable-rate hybrid ARMS that are coming up for reset,” said William Longbrake, retired vice chairman of Washington Mutual. … – MSNBC

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    IRA ARTMAN SECTION - thanks Ira: 

Manhattan Instit on CRA in NYT Op Ed – HOWARD HUSOCK – … If the Community Reinvestment Act must stay in force, then regulators should take loan performance, not just the number of loans made, into account. We have seen the dangers of too much money chasing risky borrowers. … – NY Times
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DBRS Downgrades 1,238 Classes from 168 U.S. RMBS Transactions

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1.  Statements from the Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee – Cumberland Advisors

2.  Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee – December 8, 2008 Press Briefing -  AEI.org