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Reviewing the GSEs Rules for HARP 2.0 - BY JANN SWANSON - MortgageNewsDaily

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Fed Now Largest Owner of U.S. Gov’t Debt—Surpassing China - By Terence P. Jeffrey - (CNSNews.com) - At the close of business on Tuesday, the debt of the federal government exceeded $15 trillion for the first time--with the largest single owner of the publicly held portion of that debt being the Federal Reserve.

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(on the Fed requiring margin for MBS dollar rolls) The Fed makes a weird move - Submitted by Bruce Krasting - Zero Hedge

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First Felony Charges Brought Against Robosigners - Submitted by Tyler Durden - Up until now, fraudclosure and robosigning were both merely civil offenses, and as such the banks were actively doing all they could to bury any and all pending litigation under a large settlement umbrella, wash their hands of the whole affair and move on, with nobody in danger of actually walking the plank and certainly not in danger of going to jail. That has all changed as of now, following a Nevada Grand Jury handing down criminal indictments against two title officers employed by Lender Processing Services Inc. ... (has full indictment and link to WSJ article) - Zero Hedge
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Nevada Attorney General Masto Files 606 Count Criminal Indictment Against Two Title Officers (Updated: Lender Processing Services Employees) - Yves Smith - Naked Capitalism
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(trading volumes down mentions MNC contributor, Empirasign) ) Morgan Stanley Non-Agency Mortgage Trader DePietro Said to Leave - Jody Shenn and Michael J. Moore, Bloomberg News - ... Trading has also slowed. In the past five weeks, dealers have conducted auctions for $14.8 billion of non-agency debt, down from $26.1 billion in the first five weeks of the year, according to data from Empirasign Strategies LLC. Investment banks reported completed sales of $4.4 billion of the bonds offered in the most recent period, according to the New York- based provider of data on securitized-debt trading. ... - SF Chronicle

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Michigan Supreme Court Reverses Ruling On MERS' Right To Foreclose - BY: CARRIE BAY - The Michigan Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that MERS, as record-holder of the mortgage, does have the right to initiate foreclosures in the state. The decision reverses an April ruling from the Michigan Court of Appeals, which called into question thousands of foreclosure actions in which MERS was named as the foreclosing party. - DS News
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Roundtable recommends bulk sales of foreclosed properties - Jacqueline Fellows - Steve Bartlett, president and CEO of The Financial Services Roundtable, ... also said that banks could help revive the housing market if they were allowed to sell blocks of foreclosed properties at reduced rates. "With a million vacant houses that are either owned by Fannie or Freddie, or the banks, or a real estate investor somewhere, you can't touch a million by selling them one at a time," he said. "So our recommendation was they sell them in block. And not at a hundred at a time, but a thousand at a time." KERA-TV (Dallas)
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(very interesting) Are Big FHA Mortgages Really Risky? - By Peter G. Miller - Ourbroker.com
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(always excellent charts) Homebuilder Blues: NAHB/Wells Fargo Home Builder Ratings November 2011 - Today, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released their latest Housing Market Index (HMI) showing that all measures increased in November with the composite HMI index climbing to 20 while the "buyer traffic" index remained near record lows as home builders continue to plod through the weakest activity seen in generations. - Paper Economy - A US Real Estate Bubble Blog
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Lawmakers to Restore Higher FHA Loan Limits - By Alan Zibel - U.S. lawmakers moved Thursday to increase the maximum size of loans that can be guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, even as a top Obama administration official expressed doubt about the need for the change. - more - Wall Street Journal
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GE Filed 57,000-Page Tax Return, Paid No Taxes on $14 Billion in Profits - BY JOHN MCCORMACK - The Weekly Standard

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