May 2009 - Around The Web

T2 Partners has a phenomenal series of charts on the housing crisis stating . The report is 69 pages almost all of them loaded with charts. I took a liberal selection below, adding plenty of comments, but please take a look at the original article for...

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices extended their rally to near their highest in seven months on Monday, as dollar weakness, stock market optimism and sustained hope for economic recovery supported the market's best monthly gains in a decade.

A majority of GM bondholders agreed today to a sweetened deal to swap $27.2 billion of the automaker's debt for equity in the new GM, paving the way for quick and orderly bankruptcy proceedings.

Currently, borrowers applying for an FHA-insured mortgage are required to make a minimum 3.5 percent downpayment on the purchase of their home. Current law does not permit approved lenders to monetize the tax credit to meet the required 3.5 percent minimum down payment, but, under the terms of today's announcement, lenders can now monetize the tax credit for use as additional down payment, or for other closing costs, which can help achieve a lower interest rate.

New York Fed purchases $2.218 billion in agency coupons

Stocks moved from gains to losses as markets looked to secure the first three-month winning streak since 2007. Oil topped $66.

Even when your home rises in value, the costs of borrowing often chew up those gains.

The odds aren't high that the United States government will recoup anything close to the sums it will put into General Motors, Breakingviews says.

The ups and downs of the credit markets steered Wall Street for another day on Thursday. But this time, the direction for stocks was up. A day after fears about inflation hammered financial markets, investors took a deep breath, tamped down their fears...

Top bond-fund manager Bill Gross warned of a slow U.S. recovery in coming years and said investors would do best aiming for modest returns, Reuters reported. The unfolding economic recovery now amounts to "green shoots, but not much more," Mr...

More homeowners than ever before are falling behind on mortgage payments and sliding into foreclosure, according to figures released Thursday, a sign that the housing crisis is spreading through the ranks of previously stable borrowers.

As the current financial crisis has unfolded, an argument that the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is at its root has gained a foothold. This argument draws on the fact that the CRA encourages commercial banks and savings institutions (collectively known as banking institutions) to help meet the credit needs of lower-income borrowers and borrowers in lower-income neighborhoods. Critics of the CRA contend that the law pushed banking institutions to undertake high-risk mortgage lending.

The president of the Dallas Federal Reserve says that the actions of the central bank have "reignited animal spirits."

In March ’09 distressed property sold at a discount of 20 percent to market, declining in April ’09 to a 9 percent discount relative to market.

You need to upgrade your Flash Player The Fed’s balance sheet shrunk in the latest week to $2.064 trillion from $2.165 trillion. While the central bank boosted its holdings of Treasurys and federal agency debt, the increases were more than offset by declines...

Bill Gross, co-chief investment officer of bond mutual-fund giant Pimco, says investors should expect lower returns, decreased U.S. growth and the loss of the dollar's status as the world’s reserve currency.

Purchases in agency MBS by investment managers acting as agents for the System Open Market Account (SOMA).

Mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures rose to records in the first quarter and home-loan rates jumped to the highest since March as the government's effort to fix the housing slump lost momentum.

With long-end Treasury yields racing higher this week and wreaking havoc on the mortgage bond market, the Federal Reserve might have to tweak its Treasury purchase program sooner rather than later. To date, the Fed has purchased a little less than half...