March 2009 - Around The Web

"Here is a take-home quote from Charles Mackay's classic tome Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, written in 1841: 'Men think in herds... [and] they go mad in herds.' Just as the astute investor should have resisted...

New York Fed purchases $7.541 billion in Treasury securities

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama wants to hear from the chief executives of some of the country's biggest banks as he caps a week in which he clarified his overall plan for stabilizing the financial system.

Meet the bankers and brokers responsible for the financial crisis - and the officials who let them get away with it, according to the Rolling Stone.

The American Bankers Association will host Washington’s largest gathering of bankers on March 31 – April 1 at the Marriott Renaissance hotel to hear from key government officials on banking issues. More than 750 bankers from across the country will attend ABA’s annual Government Relations Summit and carry ABA’s priority legislative issues to Capitol Hill. Featured speakers for Tuesday, March 31 include: Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York state's top legal officer will issue subpoenas on Thursday to American International Group Inc over credit default swaps (CDS) contracts, a source familiar with the matter said.

New York Fed purchases $33 billion net ($47 billion gross) in agency mortgage-backed securities.

McLean, VA - Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.85 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending March 26, 2009, down from last week when it averaged 4.98 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.85 percent. The 30-year FRM has not been lower in the life of Freddie Mac’s weekly survey, which dates back to 1971 for the 30-year FRM.

March 26, 2009 tg-72 Treasury Outlines Framework For Regulatory Reform Provides new Rules of the Road, focuses first on containing systemic risk The crisis of the past 18 months has exposed critical gaps and weaknesses in our financial regulatory system...

"There is much to like in the Treasury's proposal, and ABA has previously testified before Congress in favor of the creation of a systemic regulator, a mechanism for resolving troubled non-bank firms that pose systemic risk and closing gaps in our regulatory system. However, several specific items raise serious concerns and merit careful deliberation.

Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) announced today that beginning with March 2009 REMIC settlements, the company will offer Reverse REMIC Giant PC securities, a new mortgage-related security intended to provide liquidity to the U.S. residential mortgage market and new options for investors.

Helen R. Kanovsky is currently the chief Operating Officer of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust. She has been with the Trust nearly 13 years. The Trust is a $3.4 billion registered investment company which invests in housing securities for its institutional investors, who are union and public pension plans. The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust has provided over $5.25 billion to finance 86,000 units of multifamily housing creating over 58,000 union jobs in the construction industry. Kanovsky previously...

Washington, DC – The Federal Housing Finance Agency today reported that the average interest rate on conventional 30-year, fixed-rate, mortgage loans of $417,000 or less decreased 6 basis points to 5.03 percent in February. The average interest rate on 15-year, fixed-rate loans of $417,000 or less decreased 19 basis points to 4.92 percent in February. These rates are calculated from the FHFA’s Monthly Interest Rate Survey (MIRS) of purchase-money mortgages. These results reflect loans...

March 26, 2009 — The Philadelphia Fed today posted an analysis of data on regional housing permits for February.

submits: The TARP money, which in case anyone has forgotten is a taxpayer subsidy to the largest banks, was supposed to help recapitalize the banks so that they would lend money. For people with even a tiny knowledge of accounting, like me, this was never...

I just picked this up from Reuters. The big Obama big plan gets a HUGE, ummmmmmmmmm, actually just a so-so “pretty good” rating from U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Reuters: NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. mortgage loan modification program has...

Atlanta Fed President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Lockhart speaks about the importance of credit to the flow of trade at a conference in Paris, France.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan released the following statement today in response to new data suggesting improvements in the housing market. Today, the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD announced an increase...

Sheila Bair's band of bank watchdogs is about to get even busier.

(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp , the largest U.S. bank, is folding its Premier Banking unit into Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management, laying off several hundred workers, the Wall Street Journal said.