JoeChristmas

How to Default on Your Mortgage and Stay in Your House

There is nothing "immoral" about stopping payment on a mortgage when the alternative is having your kids go without food or medicines. There are two sides to every trade. The banks took on significant risk by loaning money to subprime borrowers, but did it with eyes wide open, chasing higher returns. Now they are suffering the consequences, as are many of their clients. Nobody really "wins" here.

What Does the President Know, and When Did He Know It: "We're not in a recession..."

You wrote an entire article, with graphs, on something Bush said about the economy? Do you really think he can even spell recession, much less define one? "What does he know and when did he know it?" Jeez.....

Fannie May Just Be Worth the Risk

If your time horizon is 3-5 years, I have a hard time not seeing this stock trading 2-3 times higher. There may be some ups and downs in the short term, but all the stars have aligned in their favor. Perhaps most importantly, their competition is non-existent. Add to that a loan portfolio that is not nearly in as bad shape as people think (check their recent presentations for details), and Congress that will bend over backwards to ensure Freddie and Fannie thrive. I am already long in Freddie and expect to be very overweight in the coming months.

XO Holdings: Raise Morale and Open Communications

I thought it was a simple administrative error. Regarding XO, I have been following this company (and your reports here at SeekingAlpha) for some time. It really amazes me how far this has fallen. We sometimes partner with XO - they often host our solutions, bundling us with a few other vendors, taking a cut of the business and the traffic on their network. They are hungry for business and more flexible than many of their competitors. I don't think it's out of desperation. They are just quick to look for alternative revenue streams. It seems the market assumes they are going bankrupt. I can't explain it any other way. If Icahn came out today and made a few shareholder friendly comments, the stock would probably double.... Anyway, as of today I'm long XO....

XO Holdings: Raise Morale and Open Communications

You've been writing about XO for some time. Under "Disclosure," you wrote "None." In the past (as recent as a few days ago), you wrote "Long." Does this mean, even though you seem confident XO is undervalued (and I tend to agree), you have sold your shares?

American Axle Strike: Unions Continue to Kill U.S. Manufacturing

Unions are not the problem. The problem is the ridiculous health care system in the US, and the rising costs that erode company margins. I suppose this may finally mean something will be done to fix the mess. When it was just poor people suffering, it really didn't matter. Now that companies are losing competitiveness, perhaps something will be done by our corrupt politicians. But blaming unions for "killing US manufacturing" is a sick joke.