Bear Stearns Casualty Leaves Poker Table $22 Million Lighter – By Nancy Kercheval -   Steven Begleiter’s bet on a pair of queens cost the former Bears Stearns Cos. executive $22 million and a chance to win the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.  Begleiter, the Wall Street firm’s head of corporate strategy before it collapsed and was bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co. in 2008, was eliminated early today after about 13 hours of play in the Texas Hold ‘Em compet... Read Full Story

    FDIC’s 20% Shorter ‘Merit’ Reviews Preceded Banking Failures – By James Sterngold – At least three U.S. banks failed in the past year after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. deemed them healthy enough to qualify for a program that reduced the time examiners spent on reviews by at least 20 percent.  … More than 40 percent of all bank examinations conducted by the FDIC between 2004 and 2007 were shorter Merit reviews, according to Greg Hernandez, a spo... Read Full Story

  Maximum Loan Limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Statement on 2010 Loan Limits - FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY – NEWS RELEASE  <<<< READ IT ALL HERE Washington, DC – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today announced that the maximum conforming loan limits for mortgages originated in 2010 will remain unchanged from the maximum levels for 2009 originations. The maximum loan limits for counties across the United States can be found here (116 pages).&nbs... Read Full Story

  To Our Clients, Colleagues and Friends,  We think politeness is a good thing, but hasn’t e-mail taken it too far?  You know when someone asks you to send a document, and you go ahead and send it to them?    Does he really have to send you a two word e-mail saying “Thank you”? Is that really necessary?  And let’s not even get into the follow up e-mail that says, simply “You’re welcome.” There’s a Southeast mortgage banking company we know who stiffed their Auditors.  Just about everyone ... Read Full Story

    I regard any day that my 15-yr old daughter doesn’t call me “annoying” as a missed opportunity, a waste. Yesterday, for example, I told her that I was tired of hearing Taylor Swift on the radio every time I turned it on. “Dad, stop being annoying.” Glare. (I used to like listening to Taylor, but enough is enough, and besides, Cat Stevens is going on tour.) No doubt the folks at Freddie Mac were tired of hearing people ask them about high-cost loan limits, and Thursday ... Read Full Story

  Inside the US debt bubble – Nick Gogerty – … The US debt outstanding is just under $12 Trillion dollars.  Roughly 43% of that debt has a maturity of less than one year according to The Economist. – Designing Better Futures ———— great UST coupon maturity chart – Major League Reckoning – By Dan Denning – The Daily Reckoning ———— Steepening curve – the only logical outcome ... Read Full Story

  Inside the US debt bubble – Nick Gogerty – … The US debt outstanding is just under $12 Trillion dollars.  Roughly 43% of that debt has a maturity of less than one year according to The Economist. – Designing Better Futures ———— great UST coupon maturity chart – Major League Reckoning – By Dan Denning – The Daily Reckoning ———— Steepening curve – the only logical outcome ... Read Full Story

     The Fed’s Nemesis: Exter’s $2 Quadrillion Of “Liquidity” – … When the system is broken, like it is now, the Fed and all Central Banks try to refill the pyramid from the bottom-up with every single dollar they print. … – Submitted by Tyler Durden – Zero Hedge Here There Be Big Nymbers (Sic) – Submitted by Tyler Durden – … the market value of all OTC contracts, … increased by 66.5% over the sa... Read Full Story

     The Fed’s Nemesis: Exter’s $2 Quadrillion Of “Liquidity” – … When the system is broken, like it is now, the Fed and all Central Banks try to refill the pyramid from the bottom-up with every single dollar they print. … – Submitted by Tyler Durden – Zero Hedge Here There Be Big Nymbers (Sic) – Submitted by Tyler Durden – … the market value of all OTC contracts, … increased by 66.5% over the sa... Read Full Story

  I had a co-worker once tell me, “After a holiday, the only thing that makes me glad to see the people I work with is having just seen the people I am related to.” Anyone looking for a job should go to www.jpmorganchase.com/careers. According to the San Antonio Business Journal, Chase Bank plans to hire 1,200 mortgage loan officers in 23 states nationwide by the end of 2010. (Of course, that averages out to 100 per month, or four per state per month, but what the heck – they’re still hirin... Read Full Story