linenoise

"Payment option ARMs are about to explode." - Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, at the White House meeting on mortgages. Compared with other ARM loans, the option to make minimum payments can mean reset shocks up to five to 10 times the payment the borrower got accustomed to, portending a big new wave of foreclosures. (previously)

Doctor Housing Bubble has been screaming this for the last 2 years.

Lawyers take pro bono cases, and doctors treat the uninsured in medical emergencies, giving up profit to do so. So Joe Nocera wonders: What is banking's moral obligation to the country that fished it out of the abyss?

I think they're doing away with ATM fees on the second Tuesday of every week.

Industry chatter is swirling that CIT Group (CIT) is in talks to sell its 'factoring unit,' which finances as much as 70% of the U.S. fashion business, to JPMorgan Chase (JPM). The unit finances more than $50B in wholesale inventory annualy. (NY Post)

Is this why CIT is +30% pre-market? Will this sale even save it from bankruptcy?

Six in 10 companies say they'll forgo Windows 7 (MSFT), despite some strong reviews. Chief among companies' reasons not to deploy: a lack of time and resources, and concerns over compatibility.

If it weren't for Exchange calendering and Office backward-incompatibility MS would have no place in IT.

Book Review: Trading Systems Explained

To those interested in the book (the subject of the article), it can be found for under twenty bucks (not 45 as on amazon).

www.bestwebbuys.com/bo...

A novel idea: high-dividend stocks as inflation protection for your portfolio.

"If inflation increases, so should revenues."

Yeah, just like in '68 when the rate of inflation tripled ('62-'67 was < 2%, '69-'73 was ~6) and the S&P dividend rate remained mostly unchanged (from low threes, to mid threes). Total return for the '69-'73 period with dividend reinvestment was roughly 6% a year.

techfarm.blogspot.com/...

inflationdata.com/infl...

The Fed's Balance Sheet

Can't we just forgive the debt we owe ourselves? Oh right. Privately owned central bank. Nevermind.

An out-of-court restructuring of GM (GM) would leave shareholders with just a 1% stake, Tom Petruno notes. "Even if the company could earn $10B/year at some point, that equates to $100M for the current 600M shares outstanding - about $0.17/share," he says. "Speculators who are thinking of buying should do the math," as insiders who are dumping shares apparently already have. GM -21.5% to $1.13.

Are they waiting for a short squeeze? I'm totally dumbfounded by buyers here.

Bond Market Open: Slow Grind Toward Recovery?

Bull Run, that's not how it works. The Fed isn't buying "it's own debt back." The Fed is buying debt orignated by the Treasury department. The Fed is not owned or related to the Treasury department in any way. The Fed is a group of privately owned banks. They are buying Treasuries to peg the rate of interest to something they find suitable. The idea that the Fed is in any way a part of the government is a total misunderstanding of how banking in this country works.

Intel announces it's wildly overvalued: Why would a company with $13B in cash file to sell $1B in shares at a discount to its current price?

Wow. Henry Blodget should not be allowed near the internet.

State Street (STT) now down a whopping 50% to $18.15. At least two brokerage firms (Merrill, Citi) are said to be out defending STT, reiterating their Buys on the stock.

Falling knife anyone? Until the true extent of the damage to their balance sheets are made public, these are not buys (unless you're buying puts).

Bank of America Seems Serious About Retaining Its Dividend

ha friggin ha

11 Stocks Selling Below Cash

Dividends? Like what WB used to pay?

No Wonder the $700 Billion Bailout 'Deal' Failed

cometfish, you're a dunce. You can't reduce the price of gas by increasing domestic production because the producers are independant corporations who will sell their gas into the open market for the greatest profit.

No Wonder the $700 Billion Bailout 'Deal' Failed

cometfish, you're a dunce. You can't reduce the price of gas by increasing domestic production because the producers are independant corporations who will sell their gas into the open market for the greatest profit.