Just how much has the U.S. government promised to pay?
Category Archives: housing
How to lose on a sure-fire bet
There was a wonderful story in today’s WSJ about how some big banks managed to lose some of their hard-earned TARP money.
House Prices Continue to Slide
House prices continued to tumble in March, according to the Case-Shiller index. Time to see what the futures say (keeping in mind the forecasting capacity of the Case Shiller futures are not well known).
Tracking the recession
Here are links to perspectives from others on where the economy stands at the moment.
Mortgage fraud
Why sell crack when taking money from a careless lender is so much easier and more profitable?
Is the worst behind us?
A couple of weeks ago we received the encouraging news that retail sales for both January and February were 1.8% above December. On Monday the National Association of Realtors reported that February sales of existing homes were 5.1% above January levels on a seasonally adjusted basis. Today the Census Bureau reported that new orders for manufactured durable goods rose 3.4% in February, with new orders for nondefense capital goods up 7.4%. And also today the Census Bureau reported that new home sales in February were up 4.7% (on a seasonally adjusted basis) relative to January. Is the tide starting to turn?
What will recovery look like?
When good news comes, what should we expect to see?
Moral hazard and AIG
We are now suffering the consequences of one of the most spectacular financial miscalculations in history, after investors around the world discovered that trillions of dollars invested in securities derived from U.S. home mortgages were far riskier than they had originally believed.
Not Nonsense (House Prices)
Remember this graph?
Former Bernanke home in foreclosure
A couple of stories that provide some personal perspective on the scope of the current problems.