iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction (ITB)

All Comments on ITB

  • commenter
    adan
    Sep 30 12:23 PM
    My Website
    ETF Update:Bailout Implications [view article]
    interesting info, thanks!

    ps - i also prefer gld :-)     Reply
  • commenter
    Kayboe
    Sep 30 10:24 AM
    ETF Update:Bailout Implications [view article]
    This being Tuesday, 9/30/08 -we all know what happened yesterday. Nice call Jeff with PSQ, SH and DOG! For gold it turned out that GLD was a better choice than GDX. "Can't win-um all." *Still good calls overall. Reply
  • commenter
    Geoffrey
    Lordi
    Sep 25 02:06 AM
    My Website
    ETF Update: Time For Defensive Plays [view article]
    FXP is a double short of the Xinhua/China index (FXI), not the financials. SKF is the double short financials etf... Reply
  • commenter
    TinyTim
    Sep 24 05:30 PM
    Mortgage Delinquencies Continue to Climb, Watch Out for Other Loans [view article]
    cut the crap.
    you guys are forgetting (conveniently) that it is ultimately the responsibility of the customer to figure out whether a purchase is viable. Why? they suffer the consequences. if you don't understand it, why the hell would you buy it. mainly because all your friends and relatives are jumping on the bandwagon and to keep up with the Jones' based on the unrealistic expectation of continued exorbitant appreciation. (aka greed) These customers are not sheep and they knew they were taking a big risk and most made other housing arrangements for when the bottom dropped out.

    Regarding the salesmen and sales managers, how many can explain complex products? It's not what they do. Buy a new loaded car and ask someone at the dealership to explain the electonics package. (good luck). these mtg companies were smart enough to unload these debt bombs.

    Regarding the companies that bought the debt bombs, it is ultimately the responsibility of the customer to figure out whether a purchase is viable. Why? they suffer the consequences. if you don't understand it, why the hell would you buy it.     Reply
  • commenter
    ArnoldCountr
    y
    Sep 24 10:07 AM
    Mortgage Delinquencies Continue to Climb, Watch Out for Other Loans [view article]
    "While it may be true that borrowers did not understand them, they really didn't take the time to do so"

    I worked in a major bank who provided those and have a law degree and MBA. I was brought a TIL to examine when I was first hired on an Option ARM that was the payment was to be fixed for a 5 year term but the TIL showed the payment changing at 33 months. It took me about 4 hours and excel spreadsheets to figure out that the loan was resetting at 110% due to the high margin. No one, not even funders or the Account Execs were able to figure that out. It was such a major revelation, I put on an emergency training "clarification&qu... for all staff that handled those products, funders, account execs, loan officers, etc. (it took a couple of weeks) to explain what was going on. Reaction? I did not know that was one... other was... gee, if I tell my customers the truth, they would never take this loan.

    I will never accept that consumers, of average education, can ever understand the complexities of an option arms just by reading the documents... it took some doing on my part.     Reply
  • commenter
    rm
    Sep 24 09:12 AM
    My Website
    Mortgage Delinquencies Continue to Climb, Watch Out for Other Loans [view article]
    [they were sold to consumers who did not understand them by Loan Officers who did not understand them coupled with lenders who allowed people to be qualified by the start rate not the fully indexed rate.]

    While it may be true that borrowers did not understand them, they really didn't take the time to do so, nor did they ask many questions beyond, "What's my monthly payment going to be?"

    Even without understanding the terms, nearly all borrowers knew that they were going to have to refinance before these things exploded.

    Many were also told that they would have to do some clean-up on their credit in the meantime... but how many did?

    Reply
  • commenter
    omooc
    Sep 23 10:01 PM
    My Website
    ETF Update: Time For Defensive Plays [view article]
    Yesterday (9/22 M), FXP (financial short ETF) was up 7+ dollars. But SKF, said to be double short financial ETF, was up only 2 dollars. Why so? Reply
  • commenter
    H. Michael
    Arguello
    Sep 23 08:24 PM
    Mortgage Delinquencies Continue to Climb, Watch Out for Other Loans [view article]
    I agree with Miami on the POAs, I'm gonna have to disagrere with Willi. As a former supervisor of mortgage originators, I would frequently test job candidates and existing LOs to see how well they understood POAs (I was not a fan of POAs and they were not necessary in my market like they were in FL and CA).

    Only 1in7 were able to understand the concept of a negative amortization loan tied to a variable rate structure and the financial explosion that would occur in a rising rate/depreciating market. To be fair, I got the impression many didnt give a damn beyond the commission and simply didnt want to learn. Still, having World Savings reps running around with their claims that their u/w models had been backtested thru the Great Depression did not help.     Reply
  • commenter
    williemo
    Sep 23 06:02 PM
    Mortgage Delinquencies Continue to Climb, Watch Out for Other Loans [view article]
    MFI-Miami has summed it up well. However, it is my belief that most loan officers did understand the risk via the indexed rate. As all the rest of the commission-driven loan officers during that time, they were no different than an aggressive car or appliance salesman, blinded by the commissions, and sales reports, and how they'd look to their peers, to be really concerned about the customer. To them, isn't it the customers' responsibility to plan for themselves and know what they can afford? If the underwriters approve it, then it must be ok. To me, there was no real way to stop what was happening, other than the fallout this year. No one could yell loud enough to stop the speeding lending train before it crashed into the station. Everyone had their head down, in their own world, and didn't care. Reply
  • commenter
    Tom B
    Sep 23 03:20 PM
    8 Sector ETFs in a Surprising Uptrend [view article]
    I am long in VNQ; real estate may be "toxic" in general, but I took a chance on it because its mostly commercial/rental real estate, and it pays a nice dividend. Reply
  • commenter
    MFI-Miami
    Sep 23 02:48 PM
    My Website
    Mortgage Delinquencies Continue to Climb, Watch Out for Other Loans [view article]
    Option-ARMs are going to be a nightmare when they start going off in massive numbers. The reason being, they were sold to consumers who did not understand them by Loan Officers who did not understand them coupled with lenders who allowed people to be qualified by the start rate not the fully indexed rate. Then followed it up with sloppy underwriting. Reply
  • commenter
    markg
    Sep 23 02:26 PM
    Mortgage Delinquencies Continue to Climb, Watch Out for Other Loans [view article]
    Ven, you are correct. This makes how long that Bernanke has been using threat of recession to get what he is asking for? It's a tired threat, because it's already happened.

    This is the same guy, by the way, who insisted we were not in a housing bubble. And he wants how much more??     Reply
  • commenter
    vince v
    Sep 23 01:36 PM
    8 Sector ETFs in a Surprising Uptrend [view article]
    Gary, are you recommending any of these to your clients? Reply
  • commenter
    venividivici
    Sep 23 01:33 PM
    Mortgage Delinquencies Continue to Climb, Watch Out for Other Loans [view article]
    Well you can see why the boys need another $700 billion to throw at the problem. Ben has just said that things will get worse if America slips into a recession. I'd describe the current situation in the housing market as a depression. Reply
  • commenter
    fossil
    Sep 16 12:08 AM
    Housing: Bigger Isn't Always Better [view article]
    I agree with you on the cause for high prices in land and housing. That is where our common view ends, however. I believe that some of the ills of society are caused by unnaturally close proximity. With no real privacy and a lack of physical/natural things to do (that have been done for tens of thousands of years), people are frustrated and in each others' way. Can you spell "homeowners' association"?. The simple pleasures of the "country" are missing from the lives of people packed into densely zoned areas. Consumption is partially driven by boredom and frustration. Try living in the country, planting a garden, riding, fishing, etc. I disagree with you completely on your desired outcome. We need to open up more areas in diverse parts of the country for "homesteading&quo... not pack people more densely into concrete jungles. Say "Hi' to your friends at PETA and the Sierra Club for me. Reply
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