The document was an annual report on [minister Christian Paradis'] Public Works' massive real-estate portfolio, which contained factual information on high vacancy rates and weak returns on investment. Such reports had never been made public before. // The department's real-estate branch had consented to the full release, and the Access to Information office at Public Works had determined after extensive consultation that there was no legal basis to withhold any of the report. [however ...] – Canadian Press1
This rather creepy straw-in-the-wind showed up as front page news this morning on Doom North's snowy front doorstep.
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Sunday that the U.S. wasn't in danger of losing its triple-A bond rating, in the wake of a warning from Moody's Investors Services about the U.S.'s treasury-bond rating. – WSJ1
"Under this plan, lenders who participate will be required to reduce those payments to no more than 31 percent of a borrower's income. And this will enable as many as 3 to 4 million homeowners to modify the terms of their mortgages to avoid foreclosure."
Here's how the the interview went after that:
TAPPER: If a year ago I had told you that today I'd be sitting here, and only 66,000 Americans had permanent mortgage modifications, would you have said at the time that that was a success?
GEITHNER: Oh, Jake, I think it's very important to recognize this program is providing very, very substantial cash flow relief right now to more than three quarters of a million Americans. And we — we believe we're still on a path to be able to reach many, many more American households. And of course we're going to make sure that those temporary modifications translate into permanent modifications. But again…
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: But a lot of those temporary modifications were done verbally though. They weren't done with the paperwork that a lot of…
(CROSSTALK)
GEITHNER: No. We're — we're absolutely committed to make sure that translates into what we said it would, which is for eligible Americans — they're getting permanent modifications that substantially lower their monthly payment. Now, Jake, remember like, you know, again for the average household that translates into hundreds and hundreds of dollars every month for them.
That is real benefits — great — has greater income for them to meet their basic needs. But again step back for a sec. In February and March of last year house prices were falling off the cliff. People thought house prices might fall another 20 — 30 percent. And we've had six months now of early signs of stability in house prices. So what that means is millions and millions of Americans — middle class families across the country are now seeing more stability, and what is a basic source of financial security for all Americans.
Those programs were enormously effective in helping again pull a housing market that was in near collapse back to the point now where you're seeing the signs of stability. Read the rest of this entry »
Representatives from 24 central banks and monetary authorities, including the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank, landed in Sydney [Australia] to meet tomorrow [Feb 7th] at an undisclosed location. – Herald Sun1 — UPDATE: here's a re-post of the story with an embedded video
The heavy stuff always happens under cover of something like Super-Weekend, eh? But the blogosphere never sleeps Thanks for pointing me at this one, twist, I'd completely missed it with my own focus on Iqualoit.
It isn't every day the BIS sends up a flare like this. So the spectacle of G7 finance ministers contemplating the prospect of raw whale blubber on the frozen shores of Frobisher Bay was, after all, only theatre.
Turns out the real story was unfolding quietly on the other side of the world. Perhaps the MSM finally starting to cover the Agency Debt problem a few days ago was the last straw, but it's safe to go along with the Herald Sun's narrative, which is basically that the "World" crisis (which we'd all half forgotten by now) was in truth a lot more serious than we thought at the time.
"This does feel like '08 and '07 all over again whereby we had these sorts of little fires pop up and they are supposedly contained but in reality they are not quite contained," said H3 Global Advisers chief executive Andrew Kaleel.
"Dubai should have been an isolated incident and now we are seeing issues with Greece, Portugal and Spain."
Like millions of American households, the Mortgage Bankers Association found itself stuck with real estate whose market value has plunged far below the amount it owed its lenders.
But the trade group for mortgage lenders is refusing to say exactly how it extracted itself from that predicament.
On Friday, CoStar Group Inc., a provider of commercial real estate data, announced that it had agreed to buy the MBA's 10-story headquarters building in Washington, D.C., for $41.3 million. The price is far below the $79 million the trade group says it paid for the glass-walled building in 2007, while it was still under construction. The price also is far below the $75 million financing that the MBA received from a group of banks led by PNC Financial Services Group Inc. to finance the purchase.
John Courson, chief executive officer of the trade group, declined in an interview Saturday to say whether the MBA would pay off the full loan amount. "We're not going to discuss the financing," he said. A spokeswoman for the MBA added that the MBA has reached "an agreement with all relevant parties" regarding the outstanding amount on that loan but declined to provide any details.
What were they thinking? For one thing, here's their economic outlook from the Q1 2007 MBA data book:
While the outlook for the housing industry and the overall economy is still a bit cloudy (there are never any certainties in an assessment of the economic future), it still seems a good bet that a soft landing is achievable, and that is the judgment that has, and still does, underlie our forecast.
Apparently, like many Americans, they were a little too optimistic about the future of real estate. They weren't counting on their property depreciating 48% in three years, or their own financial situation taking such a big hit.
“It’s not for me to judge morality,” he says. “You probably have a legal obligation.” But, Mr. Courson says, defaults hurt neighborhoods by lowering property values and leaving homes abandoned and derelict. He says those considering a strategic default also should ask themselves this: “What about the message they will send to their family and their kids and their friends?”
So Mr. Courson, what is the message we should take away here?
Instead of paying an estimated $2.5 million to $2.7 million per Super Bowl commercial, big brands are using social networking to connect with consumers — hoping to click in a more personal way. // "Social networking is the newest thing for marketers," says Vranica. "You've got 60 ads fighting for attention, so if you use social networking as a marketer and drum up some excitement, you'll have people specifically watching out for your commercial that night." – ABC1
I wanted to be Sam Huff when I grew up. Although we Ms lived in 02420 (still part of 02173 then) it was long enough ago that we counted as natural Giants fans. Dad transferred his loyalties to the Pats even before amalgamation, but I never really did.
Did the kicker have some success as an announcer? From hanging around grocery store checkouts there's some evidence that the utility guy's wife partnered for a while with a somebody Reagus on daytime TV.
There was another brief flurry of interest when Butkus was playing for the Bears. A few years ago I picked up his auto-bio at the Salvation Army. Weirdly, he mentioned the same play-sequence that I'd noticed when Page had dominated for about 5 minutes from right defensive end, of all things.
But I've completely lost track now. There was something about Favre (Brent? Burt?) doing something unwholesome in the semis, so that means (I think) that one of the two teams isn't Green Bay, but that doesn't narrow it down very much. I really haven't a clue who's playing tomorrow (it is tomorrow, isn't it?)
Seen a lot of stuff under Google Biz about the ads, though …
Astute Doomers will note that the south coast of Baffin Island is actually 2 degrees (C) warmer than Doom North this morning …
… and look where's the only place in the country above (well above ) freezing. That's what happens when you turn governance over to the Conservative-Reform Alliance Party …
UPDATE: I just can't shake the feeling that our government is simply playing an elaborate practical joke on the rest of the world. This from a story in the Globe & Mail.1
[Canadian Finance Minister] Mr. Flaherty spoke in front of a lit gas fireplace in a hotel nightspot with a white polar bear hide on the wall behind him. Above him, caribou antler chandeliers added to the image of an informal retreat setting that Mr. Flaherty has advocated.
China’s currency reserves grew by more than the gross domestic product of Norway in 2009. Its $2.4 trillion of reserves is a bubble all its own, one growing before our eyes with nary a peep out of those searching for the next big one. – Bloomberg4
… but perhaps not since mid-December. The level of foreign central bank holdings of Treasury Debt has barely budged for seven weeks, of Agency Debt for twenty. Sometimes silence speaks in a very loud voice, even if the noise and crosstalk often makes it difficult to interpret the message.
Nice shirt, Cresswell
Twist's new treasuries-focus charts clearly show that an incipient top is continuing to form.
the Fed's own MBS holdings drifted back up $0.599 billion, canceling out a little more than half of last week's give-back, while the combined holdings by the cenbanks of US obligations moved just over a billion dollars, although the contrary moves of the two elements were modestly large. This week's Reuters report1 was, as usual, based on the weekly update from the NY Fed's H.4.1 table site.2 Here is Doom's updated CSV version3 of the agencies and treasuries foreign central bank holdings data set.
This week's treasuries buy was $4.150 billion, almost matching last week's selloff. The figure has edged down just $2.357 billion since December 16, 2009.
Agency Debt lost a significant $5.297 billion, but in the bigger picture we've had a mere $7.857 settling since September 16, 2009.
The combined holdings figure dropped a slight $1.147 billion. For going on two months the cenbanks have been contributing very little support to America's bailout habit.
[B]anks are now extending opportunities to REINSTATE mortgages loans…after a foreclosure…to the former homeowners!
You read that right….homeowner ‘loses’ their home to foreclosure. Legally, its no longer their home. Home is legally in the hands of the bank. In the past…after the homeowner loses the home in a foreclosure sale….they move out…afterall, its no longer their home..home becomes a REO listing.
Now, homeowners are being offered the opportunity to stay in their home…reinstate their mortgage reflecting the value as established at the foreclosure sale. New mortgage terms, market interest rates.
It seems that this new ’secret’ program is being tested in many major markets across the US. The former homeowner is now able to REINSTATE their mortgage…at the new value as established by the foreclosure sale. In other words, the negative equity is gone…the second mortgage is gone….back property taxes paid off…back HOA fees gone. Their new mortgage amount IS the amount the lender paid at the foreclosure sale!
I want you to think about that for a moment. This means that even AFTER a homeowner missed payments…loses the home to foreclosure…that they can now IMMEDIATELY secure another loan for the homes current market value. WOW!
Consider this, 25% of all homeowners with mortgages are upside down by at least 10%…..10% of all homeowners with mortgages are upside down by at least 25%. HREU Students know that this trend of underwater homeowners will increase before it levels off. There are 50,000,000 mortgages in the US….as of today…6,000,000 aren’t ‘performing’. In other words, homeowners aren’t paying their mortgages!
What happens when all of these millions of upside down homeowners discover that they can have their negative equity wiped out….secure a new mortgage…and keep their home…if they let it go into foreclosure?
Thanks for pointing me at this one, twist, I'd completely missed it with my own focus on Iqualoit.
) freezing. That's what happens when you turn governance over to the Conservative-Reform Alliance Party …
