This month my sister-in-law is having a certain momentous birthday (50), so my bro is surprising her with a trip to a resort in Mexico. Her family and a few close friends are also going.
Let's review. It's August. Yesterday it was 104 in Dallas, and today it's expected to be 108. And bro is taking a vacation, traveling even CLOSER to the equator.
See, even their logo shows a cactus, a blazing sun, and some little native guy burned to a crisp.
I thought I taught him better than that. *shaking head*
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I see in today's news that there is growing momentum in Washington to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two home financing institutions taken over by the Feds back in 2008 when the housing market collapsed. In the pre-2008 days private financiers made 60% of all mortgage loans, with Fannie, Freddie, and FHA making the other 40%. More recently the latter have been making 87% of all mortgage loans.
President O'bama recently echoed Congress when he said, "I believe that our housing system should operate where there's limited government role and private lending should be the backbone of the housing market...."
Good....the "free market" is back! The banks say they are ready to resume their role as the nation's primary source of home mortgages.
Good....the "free market" is back! The banks say they are ready to resume their role as the nation's primary source of home mortgages.
In other news, it was announced today that the Justice Department is suing Bank of America, accusing them of defrauding investors by vastly overestimating the quality of some $850 million worth of mortgage-backed securities.
B of A now joins Goldman Sachs, Citi, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Barclays, HSBC Holdings, and Credit Suisse, among others, who have/are being sued for similar mortgage securities fraud.
Ummm.....
(What's that definition of insanity?...."Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.")
(What's that definition of insanity?...."Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.")
S
Wouldn't that be "overestimating" the quality?
ReplyDeleteEither way I wish we would get back to the bank that loans the money owns the mortgage.
Good proofreading Joe. I'll fix that right now. And yes, if the banks had to hold the loans, or at least keep a substantial portion in their own portfolio, I'll bet borrowers would be a lot better qualified.
DeleteSo you're like Pacino in Godfather III: Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in!
ReplyDeleteThe banks might change if they knew their buddies in the government weren't going to bail them out again. It's a lot easier to gamble when you're playing with someone else's money.
Be sure that CEO hat has a wide brim to keep that 108 degrees off of your face. Take care and keep cool.
ReplyDeleteI think your brother has a cunning plan - go somewhere more miserable than home so that you can appreciate home when you get back.
ReplyDeleteI've decided that I'm not qualified to understand all these banking & governmental shenanigans. I'm too sane. Sigh.
Let's hope the resort is near the ocean, where the ocean may moderate temps.
ReplyDeleteOn the face of things, I"m in favor of privatization of the mortgage industry....except for the track record of banks in their mortage lending practices.
Re: the banks....exactly my point.
DeleteWell let's hope the government keeps a closer watch on the banks this time around.
ReplyDeleteI'm dreaming...
ReplyDelete...of a vacation in Alaska
...of bankers in jail, if that's where they deserve to be
Dream on.