Bay Area Real Estate Trends

Outrage of The Day… via Obama to Use Pension Funds of Ordinary Americans to Pay for Bank Mortgage “Settlement” « naked capitalism. Obama’s latest housing market chicanery should come as no surprise. As we discuss below, he will use the State of the Union address to announce a mortgage “settlement” by Federal regulators, and at [...]

I don’t agree with the premise – see here. But, John Carney get some credit for a smart analogy: So this guy from (let’s say) Morgan Stanley walks into a bar. He orders drink after drink. Downs a dozen or so high-quality glasses of Scotch. Does a few shots of tequila. Maybe grabs a beer [...]

Last week, Bloomberg news dropped a bombshell that The Fed had secretly-lent $7.7 trillion to the banks during the credit crisis of 2008. Given the incredible dollar amount, it’s been a surprise that the story hasn’t been more widely-discussed. Today, Ben Bernanke issued a scathing response. First, from Bloomberg: The Fed didn’t tell anyone which [...]

Barry Ritholtz adds “Any previous suggestions I’ve made as to his fitness to run for president are hereby revoked.”

Great interviews. Touching on everything from high-frequency trading to bank bailouts to home prices. And Barry calls bank managers “f*#ktards”. Part 1: Part 2:

Citigroup banker and former Obama adviser Peter Orszag proposing transferring more taxpayer money to banks like Citigroup in order to “solve” our problem of excess houing inventory. Bankers and politicians are desperately trying to find a ways to sell millions of foreclosures without driving down home prices in the process. Not only would lower prices [...]