A look at stories across HousingWire’s weekend desk…with more coverage to come on bigger issues:

Mortgage prepayments within securitization -- often when a mortgage refinances and the old loan is considered repaid -- are likely to remain tame despite the current 2010 refinance "wavelet," based on data provided by JP Morgan ($37.61 -0.25%) analysts on Friday. Even with mortgage rates hovering at "multi-decade" lows, analysts said prepayments may continue to hover at historic lows.

"Watching the 2010 refi 'wavelet' unfold may be akin to viewing the World Cup; while there may be a few brief moments of excitement to be had, ultimately, the result will be predictably tame," analysts wrote in a note Friday, ahead of the World Cup Final on Sunday. Congratulations to Spain, the winner of the tournament, in a last minute goal in overtime to beat the Netherlands 1-0.

Bank earnings will begin this week, in sets of announcements expected to be anything but tame. Analysts expect a strong round of profits, generally, especially from firms with heavy operations with Wall Street. As usual, HousingWire will closely watch the results.

The mortgage-backed security (MBS) coupon swap operations announced two weeks ago by the New York Fed continued, racking up an extra $6bn last week. Other assets have continued along their trends. Discount Window lending was cut to a third of its previous size, falling to $11m left outstanding. Security holdings from the large-scale asset purchase programs seem to have topped out in the range of $1.6trn. There was no significant action on the other side of the balance sheet. The third and final scheduled small-scale Term Deposit auction is set for next Monday.

According to a report today in The Washington Post, the National Governor's Association closed their annual show this weekend to ominous reality: "We can't grow our way out of this," said Erskine Bowles, White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton during closing remarks. "We could have decades of double-digit growth and not grow our way out of this enormous debt problem. We can't tax our way out. . . . The reality is we've got to do exactly what you all do every day as governors. We've got to cut spending or increase revenues or do some combination of that."

The good news about enormous debt is that the US is not on its own. Another article, this time in the New York Times' Sunday edition, talks about the need to roll-over Europe's (and the rest of the world's) debt in the next few years. The headline says it all: "Crisis Awaits World’s Banks as Trillions Come Due."

The Federal Reserve Board on Friday announced the agenda and panelists for the first of four public hearings on potential revisions to Regulation C, which implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA).

The first hearing of the year -- in a series designed to update the Fed on the effectiveness of mortgage regulations on originators -- is scheduled for July 15 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Panelists include representatives from community and consumer organizations, mortgage lenders and researchers, among others.

Additional hearings will be held August 5 and September 16 at the Federal Reserve Banks of San Francisco and Chicago. The final hearing, to be held September 24, will take place at the Federal Reserve Board.

Regulators closed four banks Friday, bringing the total in 2010 to 90 banks shuttered so far this year. By the same time in 2009, only 52 banks had been shut down. The closures, located in Maryland, New York and Oklahoma, are estimated to cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) a combined $159.9m.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) shut down Oklahoma-based Home National Bank. RCB Bank will purchase $340.7m of the failed bank's $644.5m of assets, and will pay the FDIC a 0.22% premium to acquire all $560.7m of deposits.

In a separate transaction with the FDIC, Enterprise Bank & Trust agreed to purchase about $260.8m of Home National assets. The FDIC retains the remaining assets for later disposition. The failure is expected to cost the FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) $78.7m.

The OCC said in a statement it determined that Home National Bank experienced substantial dissipation of assets and earnings due to unsafe and unsound practices.

"The OCC also found that the bank incurred losses that depleted its capital, the bank is significantly undercapitalized, and there is no reasonable prospect that the bank will become adequately capitalized without Federal assistance," the OCC said.

The New York State Banking Department shut down USA Bank. New Century Bank -- doing business as Customer's 1st Bank -- will acquire essentially all $193.3m of assets and all $189.9m of deposits. The FDIC and New Century entered a loss-share transaction on $159.1m of the failed bank's assets. The closure is expected to cost the DIF $61.7m.

The OCC shut down Maryland-based Bay National Bank. The FDIC entered a purchase agreement with Bay Bank, FSB -- a shelf charter established by private equity firm Hovde Acquisitions, as American Banker reported -- which will assume essentially all $282.2m of asset and $276.1m of deposits. The failure is expected to cost the DIF $17.4m.

The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) shut down Maryland-based Ideal Federal Savings Bank. The FDIC -- unable to find another financial institution to take over the banking operations -- approved the payout of insured deposits.

"Ideal was in an unsafe and unsound condition to transact business and was undercapitalized, with no reasonable prospect of becoming adequately capitalized," the OTS said in a statement.

As of March 31, Ideal Federal Savings Bank had about $6.3m of total assets and $5.8m of total deposits. The failure is expected to cost the DIF $2.1m.

The FDIC reported no bank failures over the July 4 holiday weekend, but the previous three banks to close -- at the end of June -- cost the FDIC $284.6m.

Write to Diana Golobay.

Additional reporting by Jacob Gaffney.