US Government Takes Columbus Day to Get Down to Work
- By:
- Bill Rice | October 13, 2008
Normally a day for government offices and banks to take the day off, this Columbus day was all about a different type of recovery. The US stock market and Treasury department seemed to have picked today to spark notions of a financial crisis recovery.
The US market rallied surging the Dow up over 800 points, nearly 10 percent. Bouncing back from losing nearly 12 percent of it's value in the preceding 14 days.
Meanwhile, the Treasury Department got down to business on two fronts.
Secretary Paulson called together the heads of major financial institutions. Taking advantage of a congregation of banking elite scheduled to attend meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, Secretary Treasury called a sidebar. Expected to attend today's 3:00 pm ET meeting was Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack, and Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit.
While earlier in the day Interim Assistant Secretary of Treasury, Neel Kashkari dubbed the "bailout czar" gave his 10 day update on the implementation status of the $700 billion Congressional rescue legislation.
The highlights of this briefing primarily touched on objectives, a recap of the tools made available by Congressional action, expected organizational architecture, current recruitment of key positions, procurement, oversight management, and compliance.
Included in the days news, and certainly contributing to the market rally was the finalization of the Morgan Stanley/Mitsubishi UFG deals and Prime Minister Gordon Brown moving forward on the capital injection plan for British financial institutions.
Bankruptcy Reform Back on the Table
- By:
- Bill Rice - MortgageLoan.com | November 21, 2008
One of the earliest ideas for helping homeowners facing mounting mortgage debt and potential foreclosure on their home was to reform bankruptcy laws. The concept is now officially back on the table, introduced into the Congressional lame-duck session by Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL).
TARP is Closed for Relief Until Further Notice
- By:
- Bill Rice - MortgageLoan.com | November 20, 2008
Remember what a crisis the $700 billion mortgage market bailout was--the very existence of the American financial order hung in the balance.
Fixing the Housing Market, Lots of Ideas...Any Answers?
- By:
- Bill Rice - MortgageLoan.com | November 19, 2008
Almost a year into the dawning of the housing crisis (many chronologist are setting that around the January 2008 crumbling of Countrywide) ideas continue to flow, but few seem to be the answer. In fact, this seems to be the growing consensus--there is no silver bullet.
G-20 Lots of Motion, Will There Be Action?
- By:
- Bill Rice - MortgageLoan.com | November 18, 2008
The 20 most powerful industrial nations, and now the caretakers of an unprecedented global financial crisis, assembled in Washington DC over the weekend. Their mandate was broad and daunting--stabilize world markets.
FDIC Challenges Treasury with New Loan Modification Proposal
- By:
- Bill Rice - MortgageLoan.com | November 17, 2008
On the heels of the Treasury and Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) loan modification plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the FDIC releases their own proposal. In this unprecedented, unilateral, and aggressive move by a Federal agency the FDIC is essential fighting a very public political battle directly with the Treasury and the current Administration.
Mortgage Rates Drop for Second Straight Week
- By:
- Bill Rice - MortgageLoan.com | November 14, 2008
Another week of dismal economic data have again pushed down mortgage rates. Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.14 percent, down from 6.20 percent last week. This demonstrates a steep decline from 6.46 percent two weeks prior.
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