more gov’t power – U.S. Seeks Power to Force Even Strong Banks to Shrink – By DAMIAN PALETTA – Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday that his proposal to overhaul banking rules would give the government the ability to order even healthy companies to “shrink and separate” if their size or scope threatened the broader economy. – Wall Street Journal

————

Fed Nears $1trn Mark in MBS Purchases – By JON PRIOR – The Federal Reserve’s gross purchases of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) from government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) reached $18bn for the week ending Oct. 29, according to a report from Barclay’s Capital. – HousingWire
————

Trepidation as Fed prepares to end easing – By Michael Mackenzie, Saskia Scholtes and Aline van Duyn – As the Federal Reserve’s programme of buying mortgage debt edges towards $1,000bn this week, investors are starting to worry about what happens once the central bank starts to slow down and exit from this key plank of its monetary easing policy. – FT.com
————

Congress Passes Extension of Higher Reverse Mortgage Loan Limits -  Late last night, the House and Senate passed an extension of the $625,500 loan limit for reverse mortgages through December 31, 2010.  Loan limits for the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) would’ve returned to $417,000 at the end of the year if the extension wasn’t passed. – Reverse Mortgage Daily

————

Fed Tightening Projections – My prediction for Fed tightening is around the summer of 2010. – has 5 points – Blind Reason 

————

FHFA Sends Two Reports to Congress on Mortgage Market – FHFA Press Release

1.  Default Risk Evaluation in the Single-Family Mortgage Market -  345 pages has executive summary

2.  FHFA Annual Housing Report