dalhbw

Mark-to-Market vs. Mark-to-History

Imagine "Mark to Market" as a tax assessment rule. What would the total value of taxable property be today in Galveston, Texas? Answer, the City would be bankrupt in a New York minute. That is the same as Bo Peng's analogy of assessing the value of a car in a temporary gas shortage. The difference in the financial markets is that many "0" market valued mortgages and derivatives are still paying off, even as they are written off under M to M rules. No deliberate sabotage of our financial system for creating long term damage could have been more devastating than the M to M rules. Imagine the fine institutions that have been sacrificed in the name of this farce! Oh, I guess we don't have to imagine, do we? Leaving M to M rules intact, removing the SEC ban on short-selling as of October 8th, and Congress passing a $900 million subsidy for retooling oil refineries. Each of the policy-makers who are making these decisions is depriving some poor village of an idiot!

Wachovia/Golden West: The 'True Story'

My, hindsight is usually 20-20, but your view is far worse than the reality of the deal. But, you seem to enjoy mocking & kicking those who are already down. Look forward, not back. What do you know about how many of those GDW mortgages are really problem credits? You hear and see a lot of macro-talk about the portfolio. But how much of it is bad, and what percentage actual loss is expected to be realized at the end of the road?