From the NY Post:
It’s the flip side of foreclosure fraud: Not only is the city fireman in danger of losing his home, he also might wind up with smaller retirement checks because his pension invested in home-mortgage-backed bonds that were bundled and sold off by banks during the real-estate bubble.
Pension funds, insurance companies, university endowments, charities, community banks and other investors are believed to be out hundreds of billions of dollars because of the mess big banks made of the housing market.
Although lawsuits against banks are mounting, the disputes over the almost $1 trillion in mortgage securities may take years to resolve — and most investors are likely to wind up with only cents on the dollar.
“It comes out of our pockets,” says Peter Henning, a Wayne State University law professor and securities-law expert. “No one reached into your wallet and took out cash, but it impacts all of us. If you’re a mutual-fund holder with a bond fund, you’ve probably taken a hit. Insurance companies have losses, and that cost has to get passed on.”
Investors are getting aggressive about getting money back, but they recognize that only a small amount might get recovered, says Steve Toll, a partner at law firm Cohen Milstein, lead counsel in eight class-action lawsuits over mortgage-backed securities.
“We’re trying to get as much as we can for investors, but there’s never enough money to go around,” he says.
Good Morning New Jersey
From Bloomberg:
Fannie and Freddie Regulator Considering Obama’s Mortgage Plan
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are exploring ways to help homeowners refinance into cheaper mortgages, said the companies’ regulator, who stopped short of a promise to deliver on a proposal from President Barack Obama.
Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said he is working with the administration to reduce “frictions” in a two-year-old program for borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth. DeMarco, charged with restoring government-controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to financial health, said the FHFA must determine whether the program can be expanded without more losses for the firms.
“The final outcome of this review remains uncertain but FHFA believes this undertaking is worthwhile and consistent with our conservator responsibilities,” DeMarco said in a statement yesterday.
DeMarco’s comments came the day after Obama said he wanted to give more homeowners a way to take advantage of record-low interest rates to stoke the listless housing market and boost consumer spending.
“We’re going to work with federal housing agencies to help more people refinance their mortgages at interest rates that are now near 4 percent,” Obama said in his speech to announce a $447 billion jobs package.
The plan would could put “more than $2,000 a year in a family’s pocket and give a lift to an economy still burdened by the drop in housing prices,” Obama said.
Everybody gets a pony!
Suprised to see Gold & silver down this morning despite the major headlines
and low futures numbers. Will buy more if it gets below 1800.
From HousingWire:
Lawmakers push for extension of higher conforming loan limits
A New York congressman and 36 other lawmakers sent a letter to members of the House appropriations committee urging members to extend higher conforming loan limits for mortgages past the Oct. 1 expiration.
The conforming loan limit allows homeowners with mortgages as high as $729,750 to obtain financing guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration. The temporary ceiling expires in about three weeks, putting the limit back to $625,500.
Congress raised the limit in 2008 when liquidity in the mortgage markets froze. Both the Obama administration and Republicans in Congress want private capital to return and believe the first step is allowing the conforming loan limit to drop. Much of the industry, however, want an extension.
Heck, just give them some of the houses that were purchased with their retirement funds. That should go a long way in making people whole.
It is not quite the status quo ante, but it beats pennies on the dollar.
serenity (4)-
Higher lows, higher highs. Death to fiat!
“Looking at the weekly chart on Gold (vs. USD), the sell-off from two weeks ago at the rejection of $1900 was impressive not so much in how much it dropped in a single week, but on how well it recovered. The following act in the next week was a solid weekly gain of 3.4% from an opening price of $1822 – 1864 closing towards the highs suggesting buyers were holding into the weekend and thus not taking profits. The following week was a sell-off but very mild in nature and a third week of price rejecting off the weekly lows. Three weeks of selling and three weeks of strong rejections off the lows clearly communicating to us anytime the shiny metal is sold off, buyers are eager to come back in. And each time, they are doing so with more confidence because every time, they are buying at a higher price suggesting they are happy to take any dips as an opportunity to buy (or invest/hold) more gold. ”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-gold-technical-outlook-looks-set-upside-break
Shore (7)-
Pretty soon, a cold bowl of gruel once daily will be seen as luxury.
Ummmmmmmmmmm, mine has roaches!
If Congress adopts a bill that the National Rifle Association is pushing, Florida’s licenses would apply to 49 states in all — allowing their holders to carry hidden guns in places such as midtown Manhattan, where the New York Police Department rejects most such applications for “concealed- carry” permits.
Only Illinois and Washington D.C., where residents aren’t allowed to carry concealed handguns at all, would be exempt.
Co-sponsored by more than half the members of the U.S. House, the bill requires any state or jurisdiction that issues concealed-weapons permits to honor permits granted by any other state or jurisdiction. Rules and standards — including safety- training requirements — for granting such licenses vary by state. New Mexico requires 16 hours of training. Ohio requires 12, Texas and Louisiana, 10. At least 10 states require none.
“Law-abiding people are not immune from crime just because they cross over a state border,” said Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the NRA. The 4 million-member gun-rights group has lobbied state legislatures to pass concealed-carry laws since the 1980s, and it considers the federal “reciprocity” bill a common-sense approach to the state-by-state patchwork of rules, he said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-12/concealed-handguns-in-new-york-city-backed-by-243-members-of-u-s-congress.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-12/concealed-handguns-in-new-york-city-backed-by-243-members-of-u-s-congress.html
Number 2 Gee I thought that’s what OB’S mortgage modification plan was for.
explosion in Marcoule nuke plant in France, at least 1 dead.
Accident apparently
I can’t wait till Post Headline, “French Fried”
jamil says:
September 12, 2011 at 8:01 am
explosion in Marcoule nuke plant in France, at least 1 dead.
Accident apparently
Mile high club being escorted by f-16
Stench of death wafted from Asia, thru Euroland, and now drifting over Wall and Broad.
They were three men locked in bathroom, Mile High Daisey Chain has to be a first.
yo’me says:
September 12, 2011 at 8:59 am
Mile high club being escorted by f-16
Good News, so next time Plaxico shoots himself in nuts he at least wont get arrested.
yo’me says:
September 12, 2011 at 7:16 am
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-12/concealed-handguns-in-new-york-city-backed-by-243-members-of-u-s-congress.html
Speaking of housing. New from across the pond in Ireland. There is a local developer in the northwest part of the country who is doing a two for one, new construction Buy one house, get the second for free!!!
Got an email from the state DOL because I had agreed to consider emailed job searches from DOL.
It listed a raft of regional atty positions gleaned from legal search sites. But I noticed one, odd, glaring feature about this state-generated list:
None of the positions are in New Jersey.
2
Are they going to waive PMI? Otherwise the short term cash savings go poof for those who haad a down payment.
I put 20% down in 2009, fell in between the two tax credits, and am currently just above water. Current savings in a refi get eaten up by PMI.
Does a refi typically becaome a recourse loan?
I want a pony.
What exactly is “Rule 48?”
Thanks,
sl (yes, I’ve been reading sites about it but still not grasping the meaning… or maybe I need another cup of coffee…..)
The Doorbell:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqoGORXAv2o&feature=player_embedded
Don’t forget to pay you HOA dues in Florida.
http://www.theledger.com/article/20110626/NEWS/110629508
Juice #24, scary stuff indeed with the HOAs (I thought TX was the main one, FL seems to top it). I wonder why the neighbors or even the HOA itself cannot chip in to prevent the problems getting out of hand. Go to the house, talk to the owner, offer some options (work for the HOA in lieu of fees, waive fees in cases of serious economic hardship, or whatever cr@p they mean when they say “friendly south”).
I can imagine a scenario when the guys that get unfairly kicked out vent out their frustration on someone else. The scumbags are way too powerful, politically connected, and live somewhere else altogether, so the common people may become targets for no reason other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I think I need to become pally with Nom so that he can teach me some self defense stuff up — may need to own some firearms in a few years and not just because I have a daughter!
sl (22)-
Rule 48 allows the PPT to step into the breach, lipstick the cadaver and open the windows to air out the stench of death.
Band : Corpse Dismemberment
Song: Stench of Death
Album: Groove of Death
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zgwJ4hp2Po
Smell:the Stench Of Death
Trauma, with a hold in my chest
With a bruise on my heart
Grabbing to keep from spinning
It comes and it goes
Nausea, my mouth runs dry
A dizzy connection
A dizzy confusion
Fatigue, then blood without oxygen
A punctured lung frothing
And abnormal submission authorized
Inhilated and intibated contusion
A crushing blow
Near to death
Not expected to live
I can smell the dried blood in my mouth
And I can feel the numbness start to begin
I can sense my life is running out
And I can smell the stench of death closing in
Blood coughed up through the tube in my mouth
Fading to nothing
Please help me
I am afraid
I am alone
Strength to live leaving me
Lost to all choking and coughing
ChiFi [28],
Sounds like a description of the Oblama administration.
Anyone know the correct amount of time you can use an airplane bathroom before they call in a f-16 fighter escort and the swat team?
(27) prof.
I an a rank, but well armed, novice. But kettle and I are quite familiar with a school here in NJ that will train you up.
Clot – This one is for you. Attached is the bio of the attorney who has been advising Montclair’s Mayor in his quest to extend his term by 6 months. Could you have possibly gotten a better stereotype for this role? It’s like he was sent straight from Central Casting!
http://zurofskylaw.com/bio.cfm
Speaking of Clot, has the board been discussing Contagion at all? Saw it on Saturday and the scenes are right out of Clot’s future view of the world.
It has already hit New Jersey judging from how the Giants played on Sunday.
Dan says:
September 12, 2011 at 2:21 pm
Speaking of Clot, has the board been discussing Contagion at all? Saw it on Saturday and the scenes are right out of Clot’s future view of the world.
President Obama is proposing to end several tax provisions—including tax breaks for those earning more than $200,000 and the carried-interest tax break for hedge funds—in order to pay for his $447 billion job-creation package, the White House said Monday
The tax breaks to be ended, including those for oil and gas companies, will total $467 billion, White House Budget Director Jack Lew told reporters.
He said the extra $20 billion in cuts were intended to “build in a cushion” to make sure the plan is paid for without adding to deficits, as Obama has promised.
“In order to invest in jobs and growth, we’re going to have to pay for it,” Lew told reporters as Obama prepared to submit his jobs program to Congress on Monday.
Lew said the “tax provisions” that Obama was proposing included:
A limit on itemized deductions and certain exemptions on individuals who earn over $200,000 and families who earn over $250,000, which would raise roughly $400 billion over 10 years.
A proposal to treat carried interest earned by investment fund managers as ordinary income rather than taxing it at capital gains rates, which would raise $18 billion.
Eliminating certain oil and gas industry tax breaks that would raise $40 billion.
A change in corporate jet depreciation rules that would raise $3 billion.
In a Rose Garden ceremony earlier Monday, Obama called on Republicans not to play “political games” with his jobs plan as he pressed for swift passage of the package he hopes will revive the U.S. economy and boost his re-election prospects.
“This is a bill that is based on ideas from both Democrats and Republicans, and this is a bill that Congress needs to pass, no games, no politics, no delays,” Obama said, holding up a thick text of the legislation held together with a black clip.
But Republican House Speaker John Boehner said Obama’s proposal to pay for his job-creation plan with tax increases on the wealthy is not in keeping with a bipartisan path he was seeking.
“We remain eager to work together on ways to support job growth, but this proposal doesn’t appear to have been offered in that bipartisan spirit,” said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel. Boehner is the top U.S. Republican.
The president, who pushed through an $800 billion economic stimulus package in 2009, will see his re-election chances hinging heavily on his ability to reduce stubbornly high unemployment above 9 percent.
Top Republicans have said they are open to some aspects of the Obama jobs plan but are not convinced the infrastructure and other stimulus spending is a good idea, given it would further swell budget deficits in the near-term.
They have resisted the White House suggestion that the jobs plan would be “paid for” with longer-term deficit cuts, saying it is important to make fiscal health a priority now and not push it forward for future generations to grapple with.
“It is my hope that we will be able to work together to put in place the best ideas of both parties and help put Americans back to work,” Boehner said.
He added, his party has a “different vision” from Obama on job creation and that the president’s ideas will require “careful examination” in light of what Republicans see as wasteful spending in previous stimulus plans.
Keeping up pressure
But Obama is attempting to drum up support for the measure.
“This is a bill that will put people back to work all across the country. This is a bill that will help our economy in a moment of national crisis,” Obama said, flanked by teachers, police officers, construction workers and small business owners he said would be helped by his plan.
He took aim at Republicans who have resisted many of his economic initiatives in the past.
“We can’t afford these same political games, not now,” Obama said.
Cooperation could be hard to find in Washington’s climate of dysfunction where a nasty feud over the government’s debt levels this summer brought the country to the brink of default and led to an unprecedented U.S. credit downgrade.
But Republicans, while not wanting to give Obama any help before the November 2012 election, may have to cede some ground to help boost the economy or risk a voter backlash.
Obama will take his jobs message on the road again this week to build support for his ideas in battleground states.
His Tuesday visit to Ohio—Boehner’s home—and Wednesday’s stop in North Carolina mark the start of a series of trips the president is set to take to convince skeptical voters he has the right formula to get the economy going again.
He may also replicate his August bus tour through Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota—possibly in another part of the country—to try to generate enthusiasm for his proposed tax cuts and infrastructure projects and to pin blame on Congress if lawmakers fail to move quickly on the jobs package.
He is talking Mortagage deduction too. I think he wants it only deductable at 28% rate which is a big deal to someone in the 35% rate. That with Jumbo limits declining will hurt 7 figure homes
A limit on itemized deductions and certain exemptions on individuals who earn over $200,000 and families who earn over $250,000, which would raise roughly $400 billion over 10 years.
Hey, spend a buck, for Ol’ State U:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/business/at-colleges-the-marketers-are-everywhere.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general
Why Ron Paul scares Rick Perry
By Brent Budowsky – 09/12/11 10:20 AM ET
One of the cardinal rules of politics is “never attack down,” meaning a front-runner should never attack or respond to an opponent who is far behind. Yet that is what Rick Perry is doing. He is intimidated by Ron Paul, and responding to Ron Paul. Why? The answer is that Ron Paul is a true libertarian and a true conservative, while the latest version of Rick Perry, the man who once championed Al Gore, is a phony conservative and can’t even pretend to be a phony libertarian.
As I have written repeatedly, Rick Perry is the ultimate pay-for-play government man, the exact opposite of a true conservative and a true libertarian. Ron Paul, whether one agrees with him or not, is the true libertarian and a genuine conservative in ways that Rick Perry can never be. That is why Rick Perry fears Ron Paul.
I completely disagree with the mainstream media and insider pundit consensus that Republicans now have a two-person race. I again predict that Rick Perry will self-destruct.
Mitt Romney has inherent problems that are very deep and explain why he cannot rise above a certain level of support and level of trust from Republicans or Democrats.
http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/the-best-life/2011/03/18/4-ways-your-home-can-pay-you
Re 39, how can paying interest that is only get 30% back helpful. I tell you what I have an investment that you can get back 90%, make your checks payable to me and I will pay you back 90%
Nom: please note….. JJ touches for nompound…
http://www.cnbc.com/id/44460504
There’s also going to be a “private fertility chamber” because, hey, someone’s got to continue the human race, right?!
Empty Suit fulfilling his promise to “spread the wealth.”
I think Frank Rich nails the state of this country since 9/11. Good article.
http://nymag.com/news/9-11/10th-anniversary/frank-rich/
Paging Nom.
Elusive tycoon turns up after 20 years
A quirky tech CEO who owes more than $100 million in taxes reappears in the Caribbean.
We’re not worthy!
[url=http://thehotearth.com ]Global Warming Effects[/url]
Pretty sure someone posted this a few weeks ago…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEZwKS_gWwA&feature=player_embedded#!
45. I used to work for the aggregation division of Computerland. We called it Datago. Good times.
Meat, 26
Thanks!
sl
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