How Are Plaintiffs Faring in Credit Crisis Lawsuits? A Casino Counting Analysis – by Kevin LaCroix – … My analysis of the plaintiffs’ success levels has been rather subjective and impressionistic. As an alternative to this unscientific approach, blogger Cliff Shnier on his eponymous blog (here) has applied more arithmetic rigor to the analysis and reached the conclusion that plaintiffs are in fact doing better on dismissal motions in recent months. … – D&O Diary

What Does The SEC’s Enforcement Action Against Countrywide’s Mozilo Signify? – Posted by Kevin LaCroix – D&O Diary

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Troubled CRE Assets on Banks’ Books Double to $34 Billion – Rising Nonperforming CRE Loans, Foreclosures Dull Otherwise Good Quarter for Nation’s Banks – By Mark Heschmeyer – thanks Ira Artman – Costar.com
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Housing economic environment improves but foreclosure and credit rate problems will soon worsen – Jim Haughey, Reed Construction Data  – thanks Ira Artman

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Our newest risk:  New Bond Risk Premium – Shared Sacrifice – While General Motors bondholders are still angry over what they, and many others feel is unfair treatment, those holding other bonds are beginning to think about how they are going to price in what is being labeled as a new level of risk – which could be called the “shared sacrifice” risk (see Bloomberg article). As mentioned in the article, “Bondholders are told to give up legal rights, and cash, as part of a government-mandated tradeoff that favors a politically connected special-interest group.” – Bull Bear Trader

WaMu’s bad loans are $29 billion windfall for JPMorgan Chase - By Ari Levy and Elizabeth Hester – Bloomberg News – JPMorgan Chase stands to reap a $29 billion windfall, thanks to an accounting rule that lets the second-biggest U.S. bank transform bad loans it purchased from Washington Mutual into income. – Seattle Times

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Securities Suit Over Toxic Balance Sheet Assets Survives Dismissal Motion – by Kevin LaCroix – A separate category of litigation distinct from that relating to originators and securitizers involves the companies that purchased the investment securities and that are alleged to have misrepresented the value of these assets on their balance sheet.  - good summary of arguments in case (the majority of MoneyGram’s $5.85 billion portfolio was held in asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations, backed in part by residential mortgages.) – D&O Diary

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“We’re about to have a big problem” – Tim Iacono -  Morris A. Davis of the University of Wisconsin seems to have hit the nail on the head in his assessment of the next wave of foreclosures in this NY Times report. - themessthatgreenspanmade
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WIRED: New Digital Socialism and Dot-Communism – good commentary – points to Wired Magazine article – Mark Perry – Carpe Diem Blog

Warrants – Efforts to Repay Bailouts May Undercut Benefit for Taxpayers – By ERIC DASH -  …  But now banks, eager to get Washington out of their hair, are pushing to undo those investments as quickly — and cheaply — as possible. If the Obama administration acquiesces, billions of taxpayer dollars could be left on the table.  At issue are so-called warrants that the government received from the banks last autumn, when the financial world was teetering. … – NY Times
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1.  Fed to Respond to First TARP-Repayment Requests Around June 8 – Scott Lanman – … The timing means it may be at least three weeks before Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley get an answer to their applications to refund a combined $45 billion of government funds. … – Bloomberg

2.  accounting – next year – FASB Rule Will Force Banks to Move Assets Onto Books - By Ian Katz – Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. will be required starting next year to add billions of dollars of assets and liabilities to their balance sheets under rules approved by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.  The rules, effective for annual reporting periods after Nov. 15, were approved by FASB’s five-member board today during a meeting at the panel’s headquarters in Norwalk, Connecticut. The board, which writes U.S. accounting rules, is overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission. – thanks Marty Rosenblatt – Bloomberg

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Two Subprime Cases Face Harsh Judicial Scrutiny – by Kevin LaCroix – (more subprime cases dismissed or watered down -has examples) - D&O Diary