Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Shiela C. Bair Tries to Save the World–Again

Via Felix, we discover Joe Nocera at the NYT reporting that securitization professionals are not as stupid as they would have had us believe: What [the FDIC] has discovered, said [Michael H. Krimminger, the F.D.I.C.’s special adviser to the chairman for policy], is that the contracts are rarely as constricting as investors and servicers have […]

So Why Did we Give SunTrust "bailout buying" money?

Via Dr. Black, Alpha Bank and Trust of Alpharetta is now FDIC-owned. In related news, PNC is paying about $5.6 billion for midwest-based National City, which was a major player in subprime until everyone realized they weren’t any good at it. As noted previously, the claim was that monies given to “regional leaders” such as […]

Wasting More Money

The leadership at Wells Fargo must be royally peeved at this point: Stable national players like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo are already digesting acquisitions. A second group of so-called super-regional banks are well positioned to take over their competitors, officials said, but have been reluctant to undertake or unable to complete […]

Fannie Mae will need a bailout (prophesy)

By Divorced one like Bush ”From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,” said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ”If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out […]