Another whoda thunk it

Two pre-Thanksgiving news clips:

Dark moods?

Americans enter the holiday season in a dark mood, with economic worries, security fears and a lack of confidence in government fueling growing pessimism, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

The Reuters/Zogby Index, which measures the mood of the country, fell for the third consecutive month, dropping from 96 in October to 94.9 on new growth in the number of Americans dissatisfied with the economy and pessimistic about the future.

Think maybe it has to do with this news clip?

The plunge [stock market] came as investors remain frightened and uncertain about a credit crisis that does not show any signs of easing. Freddie Mac, considered a backstop for the mortgage industry, said yesterday that it lost $2 billion last quarter because of increased foreclosures tied to subprime mortgage defaults. Oil prices flirted with the symbolic $100-a-barrel level in overnight trading. Markets in Asia and Europe dropped sharply as investors questioned whether the United States economy will slow more than expected.

Gee if Rummy were still around - we'd have one of his who could have guessed stupidities.

Instead we have only my sarcastic "whoda thunk it"

More bad news about foreclosures

CNN news had an article today about an area of Cleveland where the number of empty houses due to foreclosures are being looted for the siding, plumbing and anything that can be sold quickly.

Full CNN Cleveland article: http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/16/real_estate/suprime_and_crime/index.htm?postversion=2007111908

And just so you know - this is happening all over the country - even in wealthier enclaves like Northern Virgina. All thanks to mr 24% and the go-along-to-get-along Congress... The empty houses can be used by criminals or for dumping garbage, thus making the neighborhoods less appealing and of course then values go down and nothing sells - making it harder for the remaining homeowners to leave as they can not sell and making it very unpleasant for them to stay.

So the subprime mortgage mess is affecting many communities - and reading the market news - it's causing problems in financial markets as the banks are reeling from the bad loans....

Gee - whoda thought voting for mr 24% would have had this effect? [she says sarcastically]

More on rich white men

My local paper had a story in the business section about a Vancouver, Washington mortgage banker laying off 76 people because of defaults in the subprime market. This is what got me: a quote from a VP at that company.....

"Our personnel moves are a reaction to sudden, dramatic, and unforeseeable changes in the mortgage industry."

Come on now. This guy must be a repug also living in the world of illusion that the ones in D.C. live in.

When mortgage interest rates went down, lending companies urged people to buy and/or refinance often with non-traditional types of mortgages...

One did not need an MBA or any degree in financing to see that this was going to create problems. Unforeseeable? Nope - deniable like civil wars in Iraq and dead people in the streets of New Orleans....

Most all people I knew predicted that the rates would not stay low, the so called housing bubble would burst and any problems in the general economy would result in mortgage problems for people with subprime and non-traditional mortgages.

and now another piece of news - same topic - same admin "chatter"

"Like everyone else, they misjudged and didn't keep track of how badly their loans were performing, and when they found out, they weren't well capitalized enough to deal with it," said Allan Berliant, an asset-backed portfolio manager at GMO in Boston, which owns some bonds backed by New Century loans. Read article here

familiar words...misjudged, didn't keep track ...
geeze.... these are bankers - no wonder our economy is in the state it's in - no one in minding the store


So who wins? the rich white men...and I am assuming that the lenders where predominantly white and the people with mortgage defaults are predominantly poor, female headed households and/or people of color...

If there are any rich white men who are defaulting - please comment below and let me know