BLOG VIEW: The Horror! The Horror!
you were at the movies this past weekend, there is a good chance that you caught a new film called 'Drag Me to Hell.'...
BLOG VIEW: Breaking Up The Old Boys’ Club
has Standard & Poor's (S&P) done a good job of rating commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) over the past couple of years? The agency...
BLOG VIEW: A Need For A Wartime Consigliere
ivotal scene in Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Godfather' comes when Al Pacino, playing newly empowered Michael Corleone, outlines the family's plans for expansion into...
BLOG VIEW: In TALF We Trust?
r this month, the Federal Reserve Board announced that beginning in June, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) not only will be eligible collateral under the...
BLOG VIEW: What Is Going On With The FHA?
t happens when the only game in town runs out of cash? There is an excellent chance that we will soon find out the...
BLOG VIEW: Refueling Energy-Efficient Mortgages
t summer, I wrote an article for Secondary Marketing Executive on energy-efficient mortgages (EEMs). The focus of the piece was the seeming contradiction that...
BLOG VIEW: No To Cramdowns, But Yes To Safe Harbor
U.S. Senate has denied Sen. Richard Durbin's most recent attempt to empower bankruptcy judges to modify loans, giving the mortgage banking industry a...
BLOG VIEW: About The FASB Capitulation
lier this month, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) announced it was changing FAS 157, its mark-to-market accounting rules. For the most part, FASB...
BLOG VIEW: Harry Macklowe’s 6th Avenue Heartache
krupt retail REIT General Growth Properties may be the most visible fallen star in commercial real estate right now, but as the recession continues...
BLOG VIEW: Paying For Another Six Years Of Chris Dodd
ive in Connecticut, and next year, one of our senators is up for re-election. I think you may have heard of him: Chris Dodd....
BLOG VIEW: “We’re Moving” On MHA, Says Geithner
re's a certain, palpable excitement that accompanies this time of year. Of course, I'm referring to the post-March Madness, pre-May Sweeps period during which...
BLOG VIEW: A Reason To Howl
en Ginsberg began his landmark 1956 poem 'Howl' with these jolting words: 'I have seen the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness.'...
BLOG VIEW: Four Questions About Those Bank Stress Tests
a speech delivered this week to college students and faculty, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sought to answer the four big questions about the...
BLOG VIEW: Doing The Mortgage Fraud Perp Walk
t week, while clicking about the television channels, I came upon a news broadcast highlighting a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) sting that nabbed...
BLOG VIEW: Servicers Join The Fight
omnia can be both a terrible and a wonderful thing. Now, technically speaking, no licensed medical-care practitioner has ever actually told me I'm an...
BLOG VIEW: Big Questions For Smaller Banks
The month of April means a great many things to a great many people. This 30-day stretch has been claimed as...
BLOG VIEW: The Case Of The Runaway TARP
Remember the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)? This financial relief initiative has morphed several times since its rollout last year, of course, and...
Blog View: Speaking Up On Warehouse Lending
If you listen to all of the noise that comes from Washington, there is a certain phrase that isn't receiving that...
BLOG VIEW: Creating A Mess = Job Security
A presidential plea. Buses, loaded with angry taxpayers and curious reporters, cruising outside their homes. A handful of death threats. These elements combined...
BLOG VIEW: Dancing With The Slobs
Last week's brouhaha over the super-juicy bonuses received by the executives of bailed-out American International Group (AIG) was a stunning example...