It’s hard to believe that 2008 has passed us by, as I sit to write this column. For me, at least, time really has sped up this year; reporting on a financial crisis that has moved seemingly at the speed of sound has meant that I have lost the ability to tell, and often, sense time.
If you think I’m kidding, just ask my wife. Or my two small children. All three have been wonderfully supportive of my decision to run HW full time this year — I quit my corporate job to run this site full time in January of this year, and it’s been non-stop go-go-go on a breakneck news pace since then.
That said, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I view our job at HW as one where we help market participants make sense of a mortgage market that is simply no longer content to move at... more»
Do you use Twitter?
If you do — drum roll, please — @housingwire is now up and running, feeding fresh HW news and views via tweets in real-time. Give us a follow and make us feel at least a little special. (We sorta live off that feeling over here.)
If you don’t know what Twitter is, BTW, you might want to read this.
Generally speaking, in our case, we’re using Twitter as another distribution point for HW’s media platform; yet another aspect of what we do here that quite literally makes us very different from your usual trade publication.
Much, much more to come in the months ahead in terms of new features here, so stay tuned…
It’s now two years this month since HousingWire first began, and 4,000+ stories and millions of readers later, it’s clear that this “little site” isn’t so little anymore. But I’m still constantly reminded of why I started this platform back in late 2006, and the latest reminder comes courtesy of the most recent issue of Mortgage Banking Magazine.
The inside back cover advertising position in the Dec. 2008 issue was taken by Franklin American Mortgage Company, a retail, correspondent and wholesale lender that has been thriving during the industry downturn. In the very same issue is an entire feature titled “Franklin American’s Formula” that uses six pages to talk about how Franklin American is “one independent mortgage banking firm”... more»
Circulating via MBS trading desks this afternoon, enjoy!
On the 12th day of hedging, my true love gave to me:
12 Investors suing
11 Brokers beeping
10 Traders weeping
9 Originators selling
8 Dealers standing
7 Bonds I’m bidding
6 Regulators sleeping
Offer 5’s to Beijing
4 letter words
3 half days
2 OJ gloves
And a 4 trading at par + three
From Bill Coppedge’s Mortgage NewsClips site, attributed to April Smith:
DUE TO RECENT BUDGET CUTS,
AND THE RISING COST OF ELECTRICITY, GAS AND OIL,
THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL HAS BEEN TURNED OFF.
WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE
Sincerely,
The Government
We really have no comment on this one, because we’re not really even sure what it’s supposed to be about:
As mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae hurtled to financial ruin, their charitable foundations continued to pour money into homosexual causes.
According to its records, the Freddie Mac Foundation gave over $125,000 to gay-activist groups since 2005. The Fannie Mae Foundation donated about $80,000 to these groups over the last decade.
Their largest one-time gifts came in the last year — just months before both companies collapsed and were taken over by the government.
Freddie Mac gave more than $20,000 to the 2008 fundraising gala of the Washington, D.C., chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG-DC). Fannie Mae gave between $10,000-$19,000 to the... more»
Here’s a troubling anecdote for you, via the Wall Street Journal:
When Erick Moore first read about the USDA’s Rural Development Guaranteed Loan program, he says he imagined it would be “restricted to some little farmhouse.” Instead, the 33-year-old computer programmer moved last month into a four-bedroom, three-bath home in Fuquay-Varina, N.C., 17 miles outside Raleigh. The house sits on nearly one acre and features a brick facade, 10-foot ceilings and hardwood floors.
“I couldn’t believe it until we closed,” says Mr. Moore, who paid only $1,200 out of pocket to move into the $228,000 home. The seller contributed $5,000 in closing costs, and Mr. Moore rolled the 2% fee charged by the USDA into the loan. Mr. Moore, who owned a home in St. Louis before... more»
Those of you who subscribe to HousingWire Magazine have hopefully received our second issue of the publication — if not, it’s likely on the mail truck as I write this. And as good as our first issue was, I think the second issue is even better. We’re hearing just that, too, as readers send in their comments, so thanks for letting us know what you think — one reader said the second issue was a “can’t put it down” kind of read. And that’s exactly what we’re shooting for with each issue.
For those of you considering a subscription, here’s a look at what’s in just this month’s issue alone:
The cover story looks at the future of housing finance in America, and in particular at what lie ahead for the twin mortgage finance giants,... more»
The following has been circulating through trade desks today, and is attributed to an unnamed source at Guggenheim Capital:
Twas the night before Christmas, and all thru the Street.
Not a head hunter was working, which was no easy feat.
The resumes were hung, by the fax machine with care.
In hopes that a 2 x 2 might soon appear there.
The interns were fighting over who covers the Fed.
While visions of Grad school danced through their head.
My wife worked the night shift with me at the Gap.
We just liquidated the IRA, and what was left of my CAP.
Then down on the trading floor there arose such a clatter.
It sounded like the Yanks just hired a new batter.
Across all my windows, the offer-wanteds did flash.
I took a look at my shorts and threw... more»
(This post has been updated)
A study conducted by the Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Literacy, released Thursday, finds that many Americans aren’t exactly the brightest bulbs in the room. Which means if you wonder how we got into this mess, you have to at least consider the average intelligence of the masses that took out a mortgage loan they couldn’t afford — however politically incorrect it may be to do so.
“The national survey conducted last week shows that an overwhelming number of Americans are unable to answer some of the most basic questions about borrowing, interest rates, terminology, and even basic math,” the Center said in a press statement. “More troubling is that many Americans admit to making poor decisions with their own personal finances.”
No... more»
