Warren Buffett on the market woes befalling many in the financial sector, and particularly in the mortgage-led secondary market, per Reuters: "It's sort of a little poetic justice, in that the people that brewed this toxic Kool-Aid found themselves drinking a lot of it in the end."
U.S. Housing Market Commentary
Posted by Paul Jackson on 2/6/08 at 12:24pm
We have to ask -- in light of today's news that both KB Home and Ryland are planning to roll out nationwide price protection guarantees -- can anyone else without a guarantee sue to get one? We at HW could see plenty of pissed-off borrowers who bought and weren't offered price protection.
Posted by Paul Jackson on 2/6/08 at 10:23am
The MBA has claimed that allowing cram-downs in Ch. 13 bankruptcy proceedings could add as much as two points to mortgage rates.
Adam Levitin, an associate professor of law at Georgetown, and Joshua Goodman, an economics doctoral candidate at Columbia, have authored a study that they claim proves that allowing modifications in Ch.13 bankruptcy proceedings would...
Posted by Paul Jackson on 2/5/08 at 10:39am
U.S. service industries contracted at a recessionary pace in January, taking what most analysts described as a "stunning fall." ISM's non-manufacturing index dropped to 41.9, from 54.4 in December. (Cue a massive drop in stocks).
Posted by Paul Jackson on 2/4/08 at 12:07pm
Home Retention Services Inc., Stewart's loss mitigation/credit counseling outsourcing division, said that it has hired Charles Newcomb as COO. Newcomb was the senior vice president of investor delivery for now-defunct Aegis Wholesale Corp. and as its senior vice president of national operations. Not a bad move, from HW's perspective; it's not as if there is a ton of delivery work to be done right now in...
Posted by Paul Jackson on 1/29/08 at 3:51pm
The WSJ's Steven Rattner says that the U.S. economy is just fine, thank you -- and that the financial innovations now causing heartache for many also managed to spread risk out, which is a good thing. We especially like how he calls out blogging critics as calling plays "from the bleachers." A ploy to win friends, no doubt.
Posted by Paul Jackson on 1/28/08 at 3:21pm
Document and compliance service provider DocuTech put out a press statement today, and the message was clear: we're at a trade show! It's an age old tradition to blow some money on a press statement when exhibiting, and DocuTech didn't disappoint. (The company also said it's added 14 new clients in the past quarter, so not all tech firms are doing poorly.)
Posted by Paul Jackson on 1/28/08 at 3:07pm
No apologies to Paris Hilton, but the truth is that compliance and risk management are hot right now. Witness IMS, a property preservation vendor, that said Monday it's hired Kathy Sutton as its risk and compliance officer. Sutton joins IMS from LandAm, where she worked inQA operations.
Posted by Paul Jackson on 1/28/08 at 2:49pm
The NCRC started
touting its annual convention today, noting that none other than Ben Bernanke will deliver a keynote at the event in mid-March. We think the Fed chief's speech should be titled "Can't You Guys Just Fix This? I Can Only Drop the Target Rate So Much," but that's probably just us.
Posted by Paul Jackson on 1/28/08 at 2:20pm
Wachovia Securities said earlier Monday that Jeremiah Keefe has joined its Fixed Income division as managing director and head of distressed debt; it's a newly-created position, and more proof that distressed debt is now the hottest sector in i-banking. Wachovia poached Keefe from Deutsche Bank.