S&P Expects Profound Changes in Banking System - The series of events that have led to the shutting down of the credit markets and eroded confidence in the global financial system will lead to the most profound changes in the banking system since the Great Depression, according to Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. In [...]

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Restore TARP to Its First Purpose - Peter Ackerman and John Vogelstein - … The market wants to understand the dimensions of the losses that banks face from their mortgage holdings. We believe that using a significant portion of TARP’s remaining assets for its original purpose — buying distressed mortgage assets — is the fastest [...]

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The Week Ahead in the Capital Markets November 26, 2008 Sometimes you’re the windshield; sometimes you’re the bug. After being the bug for so many months, the mortgage industry finally had its day as the windshield. First, the bug. “My occupational hazard is that my occupation’s just not around,” sings Jimmy Buffett (A Pirate Looks [...]

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To Our Clients, Colleagues and Friends,   · Kate Berry of the American Banker (Nov. 24) wrote a great article on loan modifications.  Turns out that a huge number of them go into default again after being modified. One study of monthly trustee reports from 19 servicers found that 30% of borrowers who received any form [...]

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  1.  Freddie Portfolio Expands at 44% Rate in October - Dawn Kopecki - Bloomberg  2.  Goldman, Morgan Stanley Lead FDIC-Backed Debt Sales - Caroline Salas and John Detrixhe - Goldman Sachs Group Inc. sold $5 billion of notes backed by the government, while Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. [...]

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The OTS issued simultaneous cease and desist orders against AmTrust Financial Corp. and unit AmTrust Bank. The orders require the holding company and its nondepository subsidiaries to “seek prior approval from the OTS before incurring, issuing, renewing or rolling over any debt, increasing any lines of credit or guaranteeing the debt of any entity. The [...]

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  The Chinese know how to get the job done. Below, in it’s entirety, is the text of DanskeBank’s email ‘teaser’ for their morning “Flash Comment” on today’s Chinese central bank  interest rate cut. The Chinese central bank today cut both its leading interest rates aggressively by 108 bp. While the size of the cut [...]

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To Our Clients, Colleagues and Friends,   If you are being considered for a position in the new Obama administration, you have to fill out a 65-page questionnaire.  One of the questions we find amusing asks you to list any aliases you used on the internet.  We bet there are some people in high places who [...]

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   Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours. Bernanke says he erred in gauging mortgage fallout - JEANNINE AVERSA  - The Associated Press - Google  ———— Regarding D&O Insurance - More Bad Bank Blues - Kevin LaCroix - The closure of three more banks this past Friday night underscores the difficult environment now facing many [...]

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Everyone is waiting to see what Barack Obama has got planned. We already know his economic plan. It’s designed to help small businesses that make under $250,000 a year… Like General Motors and Chrysler. Seriously, this morning rates have improved dramatically the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department unveiled hundreds of billions more in money they [...]

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