FASB Initiates Projects to Improve Measurement and Disclosure of Fair Value Estimates – (BUSINESS WIRE – Yahoo)–Robert H. Herz, Chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), today announced the addition of new FASB agenda projects intended to improve (1) the application guidance used to determine fair values and (2) disclosure of fair value estimates. – thanks Marty Rosenblatt
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Bond market suspects Fed cooling on Treasury buys – By Kristina Cooke (Reuters) – Over the past week, economists and bond traders have begun to question whether the Federal Reserve is edging away …   Forbes
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MBS program is helping; Fed meets two days until 2010 – Rebecca Wilder – … First, the Fed bought $23.22 billion in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) this week for a total of $114.96 billion. The assets acquired through the MBS purchase program, except for $7.38 billion, have not settled on balance yet. Therefore, the asset-side of the Fed’s balance sheet, currently $1.88 trillion and down $10.33 billion since last week, does not represent the Fed’s assets in full. … – RGE Monitor
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The $400 Million Credit Suisse Auction Rate Securities FINRA Award: Why It Matters  – by Kevin LaCroix – In a February 12, 2009 FINRA Dispute Resolution Award, a panel of three arbitrators ruled that Credit Suisse must pay ST Microelectronics more than $400 million based on the company’s claims that Credit Suisse misled the company into buying subprime-exposed auction rate securities. A copy of the award can be found here. – D&O Diary 

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1.  A Government-Mandated Housing Bubble – Peter J. Wallison and Edward J. Pinto – Subprime enablers: Fannie, Freddie, HUD and Barney Frank. – Forbes 

2.  T-Bubble Trades – Jim Lowell – T bonds, the new speculative commodity, are being bid up on raw momentum. Short them. – Forbes
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Annaly Capital Management, Inc. Q4 2008 Earnings Call Transcript - seeking alpha   (Michael Farrell’s opening comments are always a must-read. – BC) 

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Thoughts on Housing Price Decline  – How Much More Will Housing Prices Decline? - By: Dirk van Dijk, CFA – Zachs.com 

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Obama’s (shhhh!) Secret Plan – A bit of wishful thinking on my part, but I think that Obama may have a secret plan. Let’s just say that we as a people had a “culture” that allowed us to nationalize banks. – FinancialSpiltMilk
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Analysis: Will crisis create generation that seeks to shun risk? – … We trained people that if you took risk and diversified and played by the rules that you’d have a great life for yourself,” said Howard L. Simons of the bond specialist Bianco Research. “But all of that can disappear in a hurry. And most of us can look in the mirror and say, ‘What did I do to cause this?’ And nothing springs to mind.”  I’m not sure we can say for sure whether there has been some permanent change in attitudes toward risk. – The New York Times
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Composition of Loan Portfolios of FDIC-Insured Institutions – Have you ever wondered how much of the total outstanding loans in the USA is related to residential mortgages? -  ADRUniverse.com 

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Late Change in Course Hobbled Rollout of Geithner’s Bank Plan  – By Neil Irwin and Binyamin Appelbaum – Just days before Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner was scheduled to lay out his much-anticipated plan to deal with the toxic assets imperiling the financial system, he and his team made a sudden about-face. … They needed an alternative and found it in a previously considered initiative to pair private investments and public loans … There was one problem: They didn’t have enough time to work out many details or consult with others before the plan was supposed to be unveiled. … – Washington Post 

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Weakness Unmatched in 35 Years  – The Liscio Report, by Philippa Dunne & Doug Henwood – John Mauldin’s Outside the Box