Monday Links
Goodbye Astroland. Photo by Barry Yanowitz. Mortgage Giant Overstated the Size of Its Capital Base [NY Times] Along the Tracks of Her Mind [NY Times] In Brooklyn, a Senator Faces His Biggest Test [NY Times] Agency Fights Building Code Born of 9/11 [NY Times] Diocese to Close Churches in Queens, Brooklyn [NY Daily News] Fossella…
Goodbye Astroland. Photo by Barry Yanowitz.
Mortgage Giant Overstated the Size of Its Capital Base [NY Times]
Along the Tracks of Her Mind [NY Times]
In Brooklyn, a Senator Faces His Biggest Test [NY Times]
Agency Fights Building Code Born of 9/11 [NY Times]
Diocese to Close Churches in Queens, Brooklyn [NY Daily News]
Fossella Emerges To Announce Funding for Busy `R’ Station [Brooklyn Eagle]
dead cat bounce
The overstatements of the asset bases at Fannie & freddie are egregious but the “nationalisation” recapitalizes every bank balance sheet. Bank shares will rise dramatically today, all of them breaking a long-time downtrend. Similar to the nationalisation of Japanese banks in 2003, this should be a turning point for the equity markets.
Also, the Treasury is in the market buying mortgage-backed securities which boosts money-supply and this kick-starts the credit process, i.e. bank lending. This lessens the chance of a hard-landing recession. Sorry, What but with a stronger dollar these assets look a lot more attractive to foreign banks and governments.
Data out over the weekend from the much more broadly based CoreLogic index (as compared to Case Schiller) points towards a slowdown in the downward acceleration of home prices across 950 cities ( vs. Case Schiller’s 20 city index). This is VERY significant. A slowdown in the downward acceleration is a prerequisite for a borroming, which now may be in sight.