Mortgage Debt Consolidation

Freddie Mac s disappointing earnings pressured the company s stock in premarket action, and it had a dampening effect on index futures as well as the market awaits another day of testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Freddie shares declined 4.3% after the government-chartered mortgage clearing company posted a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss. The company said it took $3.1 billion in write-downs and said it expects billions in credit losses in 2008 and 2009. The company

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The news is both good and bad, depending on how you look at it. As to the good news, the Dow rose 114 points yesterday and long bonds have been going down. They may be looking ahead to growth and prosperity… or just to inflation. We don’t know. Yields on long-dated Treasury bonds, for example, have been going up (which is what happens when prices go down). Curiously, or perhaps tellingly, they have been rising even as the Fed lowers short-term rates. The feds are trying to keep the party g

UPDATE: Fannie Mae shares slump; co. sees continued housing market weakness
Adds fourth-quarter numbers, latest share price NEW YORK, Feb. 27, 2008 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) filed its Form 10-K for fiscal 2007 on Wednesday, reporting a loss of $2.05 billion, or $2.63 a share, for the full year. In fiscal 2006, the company earned $4.06 billion, or $3.65 a share. The stock closed Tuesday at $26.97. Shares were changing hands in premarket action at $25.30, down 6.2%. The company said its results were adversely affected by weakness

Mortgage Woes Boost Credit Card Debt
US News and World Report - … of America executives said credit card delinquencies in California, Florida, Arizona, and Nevada states with high foreclosure rates increased five times as fast as in other states, suggesting that consumers struggling with their mortgage debt are …

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A US regulator on Wednesday said it would lift mortgage portfolio limits on two government-backed companies, raising the prospects of increased capital for the distressed housing market.

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Forbes - The legislation to let bankruptcy judges erase mortgage debt and provide billions of dollars to rehabilitate abandoned properties had been expected to be taken up Tuesday by the Democratic-led Senate, but got pushed back for at least a few days for …

Sen. Reid to defy Bush on foreclosure rescue plan (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Wednesday he planned to defy a threatened White House veto and try to win passage of a bill to curb rising home foreclosures by changing bankruptcy law.

US regulators free Fannie Mae to buy up mortgages (Independent)
United States regulators have ripped up longstanding restrictions on the government-sponsored mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, freeing them to buy significantly more mortgages and pot-entially to reinvigorate the secondary market for mortgage debt.

Reid urges Bush to work with Dems on housing bill (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urged President George W. Bush on Wednesday to reject a veto threat by his advisers and work with Democrats to pass a bill to curb rising home foreclosures by changing bankruptcy law.

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CNBC - This phenomenon has created an incentive to ‘walk away’ from mortgage debt,” Fitch said. MGIC, PMI and Radian guarantee the payments on $120 billion in home loans.

Bernanke Fails to Cut Loan Rates for Most Americans (Update1) (Bloomberg.com)
Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) — Ben S. Bernanke, who has reduced interest rates faster than any Federal Reserve chairman since 1982, is failing to bring down the cost of credit for most American homeowners.

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Detroit News - WASHINGTON — Prodded in part by some of the nation’s biggest banks, the Bush administration and Congress are considering costly new proposals for the government to rescue hundreds of thousands of homeowners whose mortgages are higher than the value …

Earnings Preview: Freddie Mac (AP via Yahoo! Finance)
Freddie Mac reports earnings for the fourth quarter on Thursday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.

Moody’s affirms MBIA rating (CNN Money)
Rating agency says the bond insurer has adequate cash to cover likely claims; Moody’s is the second rating service to uphold MBIA this week.

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MBIA Inc., a bond insurer fighting to hang on to its top-notch rating, said Monday it is eliminating its quarterly dividend in a move expected to save the company $174 million a year.

OTS offers new way to skin subprime foreclosure cat
Suggesting that there is a federal regulatory agency that can actually think creatively, the Washington Post reported yesterday that the Office of Thrift Supervision is preparing to introduce a proposal that will allow homeowners whose mortgage debt is larger than the value of their homes, to “refinace into government-insured [Federal Housing Administration] loans that cover the current value of their homes.” The plan apparently tries to address what has become a big impediment to the refinanc

4 in 10 Americans Are Worried About Their Debt
NEW YORK, Feb. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ Bankrate, Inc.(NASDAQ:RATE)today published the findings of a national poll which determined that 61% of Americans carry non-mortgage debt. Sixty-four percent of the respondents who carry debt admitted that debt is a cause of worry for them. The poll results are included in this month’s segment of Bankrate’s Financial Literacy Series: Out …

Is $3 Billion Enough for Ambac?
So, the market was abuzz Friday afternoon with news of a potential bailout of Ambac Financial Group. As more clarity on what may be happening emerged over the weekend, the enthusiasm has eroded, replaced by a lot of head-scratching. The main question would be, is that all there is? The proposed bailout, according to today s Wall Street Journal, is for a $3 billion capital infusion from a consortium of banks with big exposures to debt that would stand to lose a lot of value if monoline insurer

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Bankrate, Inc. today published the findings of a national poll which determined that 61% of Americans carry non-mortgage debt.

Q&A: Overvalued Markets; The ‘Affordable’ Mortgage (WallStreet Journal via Yahoo! Finance)
People care a lot about real estate prices. A recent column arguing that bubble markets remain heavily overvalued generated a lot of reader interest. Here are responses to some of the most common questions.

Is $3 Billion Enough for Ambac?
So, the market was abuzz Friday afternoon with news of a potential bailout of Ambac Financial Group. As more clarity on what may be happening emerged over the weekend, the enthusiasm has eroded, replaced by a lot of head-scratching. The main question would be, is that all there is? The proposed bailout, according to today s Wall Street Journal, is for a $3 billion capital infusion from a consortium of banks with big exposures to debt that would stand to lose a lot of value if monoline insurer

The NYT Also Doesn’t Know that House Prices Can Fall
At least they didn’t bother to mention it in this article on bailout plans that would have the government guarantee or buy up bad mortgage debt. Given that house prices are now falling at their fastest rate since the Great Depression, it might have been worth considering this possibility. –Dean Baker

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NOTE: This is the third part of a serialized translation of Boris Nemtsov’s white paper critiquing the Putin years. It includes the third and fourth chapters of the work. Part 1 (introduction and chapter one) appeared on Monday, Part 2 (chapter two) on Wednesday; look for Part 4 on Sunday. You can display all the parts in reverse sequence on a single web page by simply clicking the “nemtsov white paper” link at the bottom of this post. Putin: the Bottom Line by Boris Nemtsov First Deputy Pri

OTS offers new way to skin subprime foreclosure cat
Suggesting that there is a federal regulatory agency that can actually think creatively, the Washington Post reported yesterday that the Office of Thrift Supervision is preparing to introduce a proposal that will allow homeowners whose mortgage debt is larger than the value of their homes, to “refinace into government-insured [Federal Housing Administration] loans that cover the current value of their homes.” The plan apparently tries to address what has become a big impediment to the refinanc

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This is Money - Under the Limitations Act in England and Wales, mortgage lenders cannot chase a mortgage debt after 12 years have passed, provided the borrower has not acknowledged the debt - in writing or over the phone - and has not made any payments.

F. William Engdahl: Financial Predators Had A Ball
Scoop - As hundreds of thousands of Americans over the coming months find their monthly mortgage payments dramatically reset according to their Adjustable Rate Mortgage terms, another $690 billion in home mortgage debt will become prime candidates for default

Editorial (This Editorial is not necessarily the opinion of the Blog Administrator.) 18 February, 2008 by Emily Spence Too often news coverage focuses on discreet current events at the expense of a more synthetic approach to notable happenings. While it is important that the public learns of major incidents in the world as they take place, sometimes this can lead to some observers not seeing the forest for the trees. On account, it might be easy to miss the connection between the globa

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