Yearly Archives: 2011

Clinton Pimps Some More for His Bank and Corporate Benefactors

Of the many low points of the Clinton presidency, one was its questionable money dealings. Remember how Hillary managed to turn $1000 into $100,000 via successful commodities trading? 70% of retail commodities traders lose money. Boy, for a newbie trader, the First Lady was clearly a natural!

A former contact of mine, low profile but with a serious reputation among professional traders, was asked to review Hillary’s trading records by some Congressmen (they apparently asked two other market professionals).

Links 7/1/11

Government: The Dominant Player in US Credit Markets?

The latest column by Gillian Tett provides further support for our pet thesis: that the role of the state in banking is so great and the subsidies so wideranging that they cannot properly be considered private companies and should be regulated as utilities.

Key extracts:

What Sexual Favors Were Exchanged So That Clinton (and Bloomberg) Pimped for the $8.5 Billion BofA Mortgage Settlement?

Bill Clinton’s favorite attack dog, James Carville, once said of Paula Jones: “Drag $100 bills through trailer parks, there’s no telling what you’ll find.”

Add a few zeros, and you can get the cooperation of much bigger players.

The noted financial services industry analyst Bill Clinton weighed in on the proposed $8.5 billion Bank of America mortgage settlement. Per Bloomberg:

DSK Prosecution on the Verge of Collapse

The conspiracy theorists in France will have a field day with this development. And I must say, with good reason.

The New York Times reports that even though the forensic evidence makes clear there was a sexual encounter between the former head of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the prosecutors (!) have found the witness to have told enough lies to them to put their case in jeopardy. She may have connections to drug dealers and criminal rings.

Links 6/30/11

BofA “Settlement”: Not a Done Deal, and Not a Good Deal for Investors

The so called Bank of America settlement, in which the Charlotte bank is set to pay $8.5 billion to settle representation and warranty liability on 530 mortgage trusts representing $424 billion of par value, is being hailed as a possible template for other mortgage issuers and servicers.

I sure hope not, because some of the things I see in this deal look plenty troubling.

US Bank Halts Evictions in Oregon After Judge Reverses Foreclosure

Oregon judges have delivered a series of setbacks to servicers and securitization trusts. A recent decision, Hooker v. Northwest Trustee Services, ruled that assignments of the beneficial interest (as in, transfers of the note) needed to be recorded. That makes any foreclosure in the name of the mortgage registry MERS a non-starter, since MERS was never and could never be the holder of the beneficial interest. This will have little impact going forward, since MERS has instructed servicers to stop foreclosing in its name, but there are plenty of foreclosures in the pipeline that were initiated in the name of MERS.

The latest move is that Judge Grand reversed a foreclosure sale due to the failure of the parties representing the lender to satisfy the requirements of Oregon’s recording statute

Marshall Auerback: “Extend and Pretend” Continues in the Euro Zone

By Marshall Auerback, a portfolio strategist and hedge fund manager. Cross posted from New Deal 2.0.

Markets are celebrating the triumph of an anti-labor, pro-capital agenda. But is social unrest the consequence?

The Europeans genuinely must genuinely believe that they can get blood out of a stone. Or perhaps resort to a modern day equivalent of turning lead into gold. There’s no other reason to explain the euphoria now prevalent in the markets, in light of the approval by Greece’s lawmakers to pass a key austerity bill, thereby paving the way for the country to get its next bailout loans that will prevent it from defaulting next month.

The U-Shaped Jobs Recovery

Cross-posted from Credit Writedowns Since the recession in 1990-91, the recovery of employment in the US has had a U-shape that is nothing like the previous post-World War II employment recoveries. This one will be the worst. Source: The Changing Shape of Unemployment

Links 6/29/11

Andrew Sheng Says Sustainability Means Caging Godzillas

Andrew Sheng, Chief Adviser to the China Banking Regulatory Commission, is wonderfully straightforward and realistic for an economist. He is willing to say, as he does in this video, things that are obvious yet somehow unacceptable to ‘fess up to in policy circles, like the planet simply cannot support 3 billion people in Asia living European lifestyles. He warns of the danger of creating the mother of all crises if governments cannot stem the tide of leveraged capital flows, and also discusses the role of China on the global stage.