VIDEO: Blast from the past: From Conspiracy Central: Jim Cramer’s Complete Market Meltdown Rant! (Uncut) - remember this? worth  watching -  Jim Cramer’s “The sky is falling”, meltdown tirade against the Fed & Dow. “WE HAVE ARMAGEDDON! - thanks Kevin Griffin for pointing this out  
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(GSEs) Bust Up These Beasts - Steve Forbes - Steve Forbes says it’s time to bust up Fannie and Freddie. - Forbes 

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Fed could ease rules for funds that purchase bank stakes: The Federal Reserve is considering three proposals to loosen rules for private-equity groups that acquire stakes in banks, sources say. - Bloomberg

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Setting a high mark for the next housing bubble - Still catching up on developments over the last few days when we were off in the high-country, one of the more shocking reports was the rise in foreclosure activity in California through the second quarter of the year. - Tim Iacono -   themessthatgreenspanmade
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Housing Bill Will Not Help Housing Market - … The real problem: too many housing units. - Bill Conerly - Businomics Blog

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WaMu: We have $50 billion in liquidity - The troubled savings and loan shoots down rumors of capital problems and says that it has beefed up liquidity by $10 billion in recent weeks. - CNNMoney.com 

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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: A Fall from Grace - Adolfo Laurenti, Senior Economist -  Mesirow Financial
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Debtors Win Victories Against Mortgage Servicers - Katie Porter - In the last few weeks, several courts have issued opinions ruling that mortgage servicers’ actions have harmed consumers. Some of you follow this issue closely, but if you need an introduction, I’ve previously posted a bit on the basics of mortgage servicing and why it’s an important component of the foreclosure problem. After the jump, I summarize three recent and newsworthy decisions. - thanks Susan Kulakowski - Credit Slips

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Fitch: Massive House-Price Losses in Non-Conforming Areas to Come - …. BIG PROBLEM - This more micro look at the housing market in the 25 MSA’s that in the past have contained the most ‘non-conforming (Jumbo) lending, is coming up with massive house price losses in key areas with San Diego dropping as much as 47% over the next 5-years! San Francisco is looking at an additional 33%. These are your heavy Alt-A areas. … - MR Mortage

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Mortgage industry grilled in Washington - House panel probes just how much lenders and loan servicers are doing to keep troubled borrowers in their homes. - Les Christie =  CNNMoney.com

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City and State Brace for Drop in Wall Street Pay - … A review of the latest statements from the largest financial companies based in the city shows that they intend to hand out about $18 billion less in pay and benefits in 2008 than in 2007.  … - NY Times

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Senator Proposes National Usury Law. On July 17, Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced S. 3287, a bill which would amend the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) by creating a national usury rate. The bill, titled “Protecting Consumers From Unreasonable Credit Rates Act of 2008,” would create a maximum annual percentage credit rate of thirty-six percent. - To amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish a national usury rate for consumer credit transactions. - Copy of amendment here.  -  thanks  Buckley Kolar for pointing this out.

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IRA ARTMAN SECTION - thanks Ira:

More Rough Waters for Housing Market - Dean Baker - “Mortgage interest rates jumped 37 basis points last week.” - Housing Monitor CEPR.net

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Collateralized Damage: Commercial Mortgage Securities Are at a Standstill
Published: July 23, 2008 in Knowledge@Wharton

   posted by Bill Coppedge