Feed aggregator

BuildingLaw: Proposed Constitutional Amendment on Eminent Domain: Cons and Pros http://t.co/2VV48NLx | by @SandsAnderson

``The suit, filed by the state's Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, charges that the creation and use of a privately national electronic registration system, MERS, "has resulted in a wide range of deceptive and fraudulent foreclosure filings in New York state and federal courts, harming homeowners and undermining the integrity of the judicial foreclosure process."  Further, the lawsuit charges that the employees and agents of the three banks, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, acting as "MERS certifying officers," have repeatedly submitted court documents containing false and misleading information that made it appear that the foreclosing party had the authority to bring a case when in fact it may not have. ''

``The suit, filed by the state's Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, charges that the creation and use of a privately national electronic registration system, MERS, "has resulted in a wide range of deceptive and fraudulent foreclosure filings in New York state and federal courts, harming homeowners and undermining the integrity of the judicial foreclosure process."  Further, the lawsuit charges that the employees and agents of the three banks, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, acting as "MERS certifying officers," have repeatedly submitted court documents containing false and misleading information that made it appear that the foreclosing party had the authority to bring a case when in fact it may not have. ''

"Nothing immoral went on, Edward DeMarco says. The agency's multibillion-dollar bets against homeowners being able to refinance were "ordinary business transactions.""

Good article. Love the quote at the end from the economics professor who thinks that gold atoms in one state are different from gold atoms in another state!

Worried that the Federal Reserve and the U.S. dollar are on the brink of collapse, lawmakers from 13 states, including Minnesota, Tennessee, Iowa, South Carolina and Georgia, are seeking approval from their state governments to either issue their own alternative currency or explore it as an option. Just three years ago, only three states had similar proposals in place.

...

However, most people aren't going to walk around with such valuable coins in their pockets, said Vieira... It's more likely that the states will create electronic depositories and accounts for the coins to make transactions easier, when and if the initial bills are passed, he said.

Utah Gold & Silver Depository is already developing a system where customers could use debit cards linked to their gold holdings. When customers swipe their debit cards to make transactions, physical gold and silver coins would be transferred between accounts in privately-owned depositories (or vaults) based on the market value of the metals.

...

Tea Party "father" Ron Paul is sponsoring the "Free Competition in Currency Act," which would allow states to introduce their own currencies, and rival Newt Gingrich is calling for a commission to look at how the country can get back to the gold standard.

...

Of all the state proposals circulating right now, Republican-controlled states including South Carolina, Georgia, Idaho and Indiana have the best chance of passing their proposed bills this year, said American Principles Project's Danker. If just one or two states implement an alternative currency, it could have a Domino effect, he said.

To put today's release in perspective, the actual survey data says that 111.9 million people had full time jobs in January. That compares with a peak level of 119.3 million in January 2008. They call that a "recovery?" ... Given the confusion inherent in these numbers, the proof of whether there's any real improvement in the employment trend may not come until this summer when peak employment levels are normally reached.

Contributed by Janet Tavakoli of Tavakoli Structured Finance -- February 3, 2012

My favorite football introductory book is an out-of-print book by Joe Namath, FOOTBALL for Young Players and Parents. You may enjoy my favorite lines as you get in the mood for the Super Bowl (below after the side note):

Side note on David Einhorn: Of course I'm talking about American-style football, not soccer aka football. You may recall Harvard educated David Einhorn's Alfred E Newman worthy quip in defense of his U.K. insider trading--"This resembles insider dealing as much as soccer resembles football." It's an insult to the global financial community's intelligence on many levels, unless he meant to say that his actions were exactly insider trading.

That wasn't his only silly remark. After he received material non-public insider information, he claimed that his prior request not to be wall-crossed should have covered him, and others should have protected him from material information. If only saying the magic word like abracadabra in advance could make future unpleasant developments go away. According to Einhorn's nonsense, all you would ever have to do is say you don't want to be wall-crossed to be absolved of trading on material non-public information gleaned in a subsequent conversation. As if.

Then there was Einhorn's assertion that his trading on this information wouldn't have been a problem in the U.S. It would likely have been an even bigger problem in the U.S. Greenlight owned more than 10% of the shares of Punch, and if this had happened in the U.S. with shares of a U.S. company, Einhorn would have been an insider by definition. He received material non-public information. I'm surprised his shareholders didn't challenge his perception on this point, since it likely would have been a much bigger problem in the U.S.

As for governance at Greenlight, Einhorn admitted he didn't consult lawyers or compliance before he commenced trading. This is one of the weaknesses of the hedge fund model. "It's okay ‘cause I said so and I run the joint," just doesn't cut it.

Finally, the financial press talks about David Einhorn's many good qualities, and I have no quibble with that. But the press seems to have amnesia when it comes to the fact that he served on the Board of Directors of infamous New Century--smaller than but just as corrupt as Countrywide--from early 2006 until its bankruptcy in March 2007. I cheered when the Ohio Attorney General kicked the corrupt mortgage lending carpetbaggers from New Century out of Ohio in March of 2007 and barred New Century from doing business in the state. New Century could no longer originate new mortgages, could no longer collect fees, could no longer foreclose, and could no longer evict consumers. New Century was sued in several states for alleged fraud on borrowers.

Excerpts from Joe Namath's FOOTBALL for Young Players and Parents

"The thing is, a team game is so much fun. You're working together. You're really sharing an adventure."

"You learn you can do your best even when it's hard, even when you're tired and maybe hurting a little bit. It feels good to show some courage."

"Maybe you're falling down, some guy is trying to block you--and here comes the runner. TACKLE him! I don't care how. GET him. Desire is vital for a tackler." [Not the best advice for Strauss-Kahn...]

"The first thing I tell every young quarterback is this: have a mental checklist when you come out of the huddle. You want to know EXACTLY what you are going to do."

"Turn your head quickly to where you have to go. The rest of you will follow."

"The best way, in O.J.'s words, is to ‘fake them tight.' Fake the tackler just a bit, then cut close to him, even if he gets an arm on you." [It worked for O.J. later in his criminal trial.]

"You don't have to knock the guy flat. All you have to do is hit him in the right spot at the right time." [Great advice for girls in martial arts / self-defense. The goal is to get away, not get fancy.]

"Every now and then we see a young runner who has a big head. He'll think he's so good carrying the ball that he doesn't have to block. All that means is he won't play very long. [Long only funds that never hedge.]

"If you're the first guy o the ball carrier, you TACKLE him. If two or three of your buddies arrive, maybe one of them can strip the ball and cause a fumble."

"Make him REALLY worried. Get him backing up. Get him running back toward the goal line."

"Really you catch a football with your EYES. And your MIND. You watch it so hard, you just concentrate on it so much, that there is no way you can drop it."

"A good pass receiver doesn't want to catch MOST passes. He wants to catch EVERY SINGLE PASS. There really isn't any excuse for dropping a pass."

"A linebacker can't afford to have tunnel vision. You have to see many things at the same time."

"The key to this--for a linebacker--is to get a good jam on your man. Maybe you'll be covering a tight end, maybe a back. But the first thing you do is JAM the guy."

"Get it I your mind that nobody is going to stop you. Throw guys, run over guys, JUMP over guys. Whatever you have to do to get the quarterback."

"You will learn that the guy who stays cool and calm, the guy who can keep thinking when everything is crazy around him, that's the guy who comes out on top."

Best,

Janet

``As it was in 1980, could it be again in 2012? The 1980 presidential election was fought by a Democratic incumbent weakened by a poor economy amid worries that the United States had lost its ability to compete in the world. Gold prices had risen to unprecedented levels as the election approached, and the Republican nominee hinted he might propose a return to a gold standard. That Republican, Ronald Reagan, won the election and soon appointed a commission to study the role of gold in monetary systems.'' -- The latter of course was shut down, because bankers don't like having their "magic money machine" turned off.

``No, that's not a typo: 1.2 million people dropped out of the labor force in one month!... the civilian labor force tumbled to a fresh 30 year low of 63.7% as the BLS is seriously planning on eliminating nearly half of the available labor pool from the unemployment calculation.''

Quddusa Lynette Anderson, 38, Patton, California, who allegedly to have operated a "cash for keys" scam in Rancho Cucamonga, California, has been charged with Burglary, Forgery and Grand Theft. 

BuildingLaw: Construction Law: Landlord bears cost of latent structural defect not cause by tenant alteration unless expressl... http://t.co/I76W3qgo

"Even as the Securities and Exchange Commission has stepped up its investigations of Wall Street in the last decade, the agency has repeatedly allowed the biggest firms to avoid punishments specifically meant to apply to fraud cases."

"U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said the first non-bank financial companies deemed systemically risky will be named this year, and the department will release more plans for an overhaul of housing finance."

"Ben Bernanke defended the Federal Reserve's decision to hold interest rates at record-low levels for the next three years, during a contentious hearing before federal lawmakers"

"Untenable pension promises made by corrupt politicians to corrupt unions in an unholy alliance is about to sink another city. Please consider Providence is facing bankruptcy"

Rodney Lavann Giles, 45, DeSoto, Texas, has been found guilty by a jury in a mortgage fraud scheme that involved homes in the Eastern District of Texas.

"The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's Asset Management Group planned to release a statement last week urging government negotiators to protect innocent investors, amid reports that banks will get credit for lowering the balances of mortgages packaged into bonds, three people familiar with the matter said. Sifma's leadership said no. The panel's members oversee $20 trillion and include BlackRock (BLK) Inc. and Pacific Investment Management Co"

"Spain's new government gave banks an extra year to recognize losses if they agree to merge, as it tries to overhaul the financial industry crippled by the collapse of the nation's property boom four years ago."

"Florida's once-heralded foreclosure mill investigations have fizzled as the attorney general's office has failed to find the right strategy to continue its pursuit and three law firms call for the cases to be dismissed."

"The goal is to help stabilize the troubled housing market by turning properties into rental units. Similar programs are expected to be launched by Fannie Mae's sibling company, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration, the government-controlled mortgage insurer."