Federal Reserve Will Fail With Quantitative Easing – By: Trace Mayer, J.D. – Run To Gold

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U.S. bank rescue plan could come on Monday: report - … The plan would create an entity, backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp … to buy and hold loans …  would expand a newly launched Federal Reserve facility — …to include toxic assets. And it would create new public and privately financed funds to buy such securities under the management of private investment experts. – Reuters

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Survey: Mortgage servicers back Obama plan – By Jeff Gelles – Mortgage servicers who handle more than three-fourths of the nation’s home loans intend to participate in the Obama administration’s mortgage-modification program, according to a survey by the nonprofit group Acorn. – Philadelphia INQUIRER

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Mortgages and CDOs Playing Lesser Role in ABCP Conduits  - Traditional non-mortgage consumer assets continue to dominate U.S. asset backed commercial paper (ABCP) programs, according to an analysis by Fitch Ratings. … Combined residential mortgage and CDO exposure made up close to 5% of Fitch rated multiseller conduits at year-end 2008, down from over 16% two years prior. … – Research Recap

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Bernanke’s economic strategy: Trillions now, worry later -
Los Angeles Times Blogs

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Should we have had a bond rally? – Quick thoughts on the Fed’s mega-stimulus plan  – …  I think this is one of those times when the bond market’s initial reaction to a big change in monetary policy is wrong. Bond yields fell big-time today, but they won’t stay down for long. Ok, so the Fed will buy $300 billion of Treasury bonds, but that’s only a small fraction of the amount outstanding, and a lot less than half of what the Treasury will be selling this year to finance the deficit. … -  Scott Grannis Calafia Beachn Pundit

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30 Year Fixed Rate Of 3.5% Likely As Mortgage Rates Plunge – Bill Zielinski – Mortgaged Future 

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US Dollar Has 3rd Biggest One-Day Decline Ever – The US Dollar index had its third biggest one-day decline today since daily pricing begins back in 1970.  After the Fed announced that they will be purchasing US Treasuries and other assets, the Dollar fell sharply and ended the day down 2.69%. – Bespoke Investment Group
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1% Drop in Mortgage Rates = $118B Annual Savings – Mark Perry -  In a previous post, I estimated that for every one cent drop in retail gas prices, U.S. consumers and businesses save about $1.435 billion annually. Following Morgan Stanley’s David Greenlaw’s analysis (today’s WSJ), I estimate that for every one percent decrease in mortgage rates, mortgage holders as a group will save about $118 billion per year, assuming that everybody refinances to the lower rate – Carpe Diem Blog

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fantasy: Paulie and Ben’s conversation:  Bernanke’s Bunker Bomb – … One Greenwich based hedge fund reportedly made a killing. They got long the bond and short the dollar before the Fed announcement. Apparently they got the market insight from a report of a conversation between Bernanke and Volker. This conversation supposedly took place Tuesday night. The following is a transcript. It was found on the floor of a bar in Greenwich. … – Bruce Krastig’s Blog 

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ICE Clears Major Hurdle for CDS – Dealers Overcome Reluctance to Clear Credit-Default Swaps – … ICE said its clearinghouse, known as ICE U.S. Trust, guaranteed 91 swaps transactions valued at $7.1 billion last week, after launching March 9. … – Wall Street Journal 

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Moody’s May Downgrade $173 Billion of Jumbo-Mortgage Securities – By Neil Unmack -  Moody’s Investors Service said it’s reviewing $173 billion of bonds backed by so-called jumbo mortgages for possible downgrade after increasing its forecast for losses on the U.S. loans. – Bloomberg

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Dodd throw Geithner under bus? – Sen. Dodd Admits Adding Bonus Provision to Stimulus PackageSen. Chris Dodd says Treasury forced him to add language to the stimulus bill last month that specifically excluded executive bonuses included in contracts signed before the bill’s passage. – FoxNews.com 

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Statement of Patrick J. Lawler, Chief Economist – Federal Housing Finance Agency  – House Financial Services Committee,… – “Examining the Making Home Affordable Plan” 

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A Fair Value Antidote Is Rushed by FASB -  Sarah Johnson – In newly proposed guidance, board encourages companies to use more judgment — and do more work — when assessing the current value of assets stuck in an inactive market. – CFO.com
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Board announces that the set of eligible collateral for loans extended by the Term Asset-Backed Loan Facility (TALF) is being expanded to include four additional categories of asset-backed securities -
ABS backed by mortgage servicing advances 
ABS backed by loans or leases relating to business equipment
ABS backed by leases of vehicle fleets
ABS backed by floorplan loans
Released by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System