This week the stock market seems a little more stable, and the fed has injected more liquidity in the markets. But don’t be confused. Things are bad and could get much, much worse. The top-line story is that July foreclosures are 9% above June. Recall several facts. First, foreclosures come Read more…
Marc Ambinder was sent a letter by a Democratic economist and asks whether the political world is ignoring the economy. I wonder if it matters? Doesn’t the economy re-assert itself? re: "When I come back I want to come back as the bond market, because then you can intimidate everybody." — Read more…
Basically, my answer is that Hillary Clinton is a smart politician, she sees an issue coming, and she is trying to get in front of it. I have argued repeatedly that the housing and credit bust is going to be a huge issue. It is probably an unsolvable one. After Read more…
I have talked a bunch about the housing crunch and its impact on politics. Inevitably the question turns to something like, what can Republicans say or do now to get us out from underneath this issue. Frankly we struggle to find good answers. Well, Hillary Clinton is announcing her answers. Read more…
Cramer blew up on CNBC. It’s on Drudge. Blah blah blah. Read what he actually said. And think about what that will mean politically: No, we have Armageddon. We have Armageddon … Will somebody come on TV and tell people how bad it is. … We have thousands of people Read more…
State 1/x Households in Foreclosure # of Households foreclosing Bush 04 margin EVs Primary Date Nevada 40 25,208 21k 5 1/19 Colorado 60 34,287 100k 9 2/5 California 69 189,560 -1.2m 55 2/5 Michigan 80 55,896 -160k 17 1/26?? Florida 81 102,213 380k 27 1/29 Ohio 82 60,728 120k 20 Read more…
Another swing state, another problem. The AZ Republic has the story: In total, RealtyTrac has estimated that one of every 92 households in Arizona is in some stage of foreclosure, meaning the situation is likely affecting both speculators and average homeowners. … That firm shows that 2,952 homes were foreclosed Read more…
The big news today in housing is this, from Bloomberg: American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. shares plunged 89 percent after the lender said it doesn’t have cash to fund new loans and may have to sell off assets. … American Home caters to borrowers whose credit scores fall just short Read more…
UPDATE: The Big Picture has details on the conference call announcing these results. Countrywide Financial Corp. had very bad Q2 profit numbers: The rise in credit-related costs were primarily related to the company’s investments in prime home equity loans, Mozilo said. Unlike subprime loans, which target borrowers with spotty credit Read more…
More bad news on the housing front. Here are some maps and charts. Note Florida and Nevada. Not that Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, or New Mexico are doing well. These charts are from the WSJ, via The Big Picture. These might also make taking back a couple of House seats tough. Read more…