The Shell Game - How the Federal Reserve is Monetizing Debt - Chris Martenson - ... The shell game that the Fed is currently playing obscures the fact that money is being printed out of thin air and used to buy US government debt.  The Federal Reserve is monetizing US Treasury debt and is doing so openly, both through its $300 billion commitment to buy Treasuries and by engaging in a sleight of hand maneuver that would make a street hustler from Brooklyn blush.  ... - The Martenson Report

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1.  Hedge Funds' Holdings in Financials: $70 Billion - By JOSEPH CHECKLER - ... During the quarter, hedge funds increased their ownership in financial stocks by 55% to $70 billion, compared with the previous quarter. The funds now own 3.7% of the sector's market capitalization, according to a Goldman Sachs research report released Monday. That is an all-time high, the report said. ... - Wall Street Journal 

2.  Mortgage Fraud: A Classic Crime's Latest Twists - By ANNE TERGESEN - As 'Reverse' Loans Grow More Popular, Scams Put Older Adults at Risk - Wall Street Journal 
 
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Common Pitfalls in Risk Management (Part 1), Confusing Pseudo Monte Carlo with the Real Thing - Author: Predrag Miocinovic and Donald R. van Deventer - ...  In this series, we discuss risk management errors by some of the world’s largest financial institutions and point out their consequences to help all of us avoid errors of the past and obvious errors going forward.  In this post, we point out the consequences of basing risk assessment on a pseudo monte carlo approach instead of the real thing. ... - Riskcenter.com

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Investors “Swarming Back Into Leveraged Finance Markets” - Excerpted from U.S.Leveraged Finance Quarterly Review - The U.S. high yield bond and leveraged loan markets staged impressive rallies during the first half of 2009, making a partial recovery following the worst annual performance for both markets in 2008, according to Fitch Ratings. - Research Recap

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What's next in Taylor Bean bankruptcy? - By Suevon Lee - Lender must decide whether to restructure or liquidate assets. - Ocala.com

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FDIC Loosens Capital Requirements for Private Capital Acquisitions - By DIANA GOLOBAY - Private capital may play a more prominent role in the takeover of failed depository institutions at a time when weekly bank failures take multimillion-dollar hits on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s (FDIC) deposit insurance fund.  The FDIC on Wednesday issued a final policy statement on the role of private equity in the acquisition of failed depository institutions. - housingwire