Overview: Fed fails to boost US equities

Some of these were white shoe institutions with blue-chip stocks. (The article in the Wall Street Journal today, The Rise of Mortgage Walkers, says it all). Of course mortgage borrowers are walking away and feeling no shame as they fling the front door keys to the wind! I have been writing about this and speaking about it at conferences for years, and wondered why nobody listened.

As a result of many years of predatory lending, the United States is facing an insolvency problem that is unprecedented. Leverage must be reduced to restore faith in the solvency of institutions before anyone will trust them again with their hard-earned cash. Lending has begun to go back on balance sheet but it's already too late to save the ailing SIV's and if the monoline insurers fail, say goodbye to the asset-backed CP market. read more

Likely rate rise reason to reassess mortgage

They will need to pay out over a billion a year from profits in interest payments to bond holders, which seems a tall order in the present climate and would leave nothing left for shareholders' dividends.

It still seems that NR is de facto not a going concern. It should be wound up and the mortgage book sold off in chunks. Like this we end up throwing more good money after bad.

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