Agoracom Blog Home

Archive for the ‘Foreclosuregate’ Category

60 Minutes Fries Wall Street / SEC / Justice Department ….. Sarbox Officially A Joke

Posted by AGORACOM at 12:04 AM on Monday, December 5th, 2011

(CBS News) Two whistleblowers offer a rare window into the root causes of the subprime mortgage meltdown. Eileen Foster, a former senior executive at Countrywide Financial, and Richard Bowen, a former vice president at Citigroup, tell Steve Kroft the companies ignored their repeated warnings about defective, even fraudulent mortgages. The result, experts say, was a cascading wave of mortgage defaults for which virtually no high-ranking Wall Street executives have been prosecuted.

I blankly stared at my keyboard thinking of ways to succinctly articulate my thoughts on this matter for 10 minutes. I couldn’t do it. Not without embarking on a 1,000 word rant.

All I can say is that Wall Street will burn. That isn’t anger. It isn’t vengeance. It is simply the clear path upon which Wall Street has set itself upon.

The full 60 Minutes page on this story can be found here.

The full 60 Minutes video can be found in the two clips below.

My Comment On Obama Set To Go After Banks Scores High With Zero Hedge Readers

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:17 AM on Friday, September 2nd, 2011

ZeroHedge readers seem to be in unanimous agreement with my above noted comment (22 – 0) regarding this report that Obama and the Feds are about to open up a can of whoop-ass on the banks:

To be clear, despite the fact I’m conservative in both my economics and politics, I was a supporter of Obama on the hope he could restore some humanity to the political process after “W” and his crew drove the world to the brink.

Unfortunately, Obama’s failure to go after big banks and Day 1 (when he was in their pocket) … only to turn on them now in a desperate attempt to save his Presidency, serves to prove that people have virtually no hope of having any politicians serve in their best interest …. and that some kind of revolution will take place within my lifetime as people get used and pushed to the brink.

My disappointment will only be subdued by what another reader said best:

So it’s come down to cannibalization among the government and banking elites.

Let the games begin … the next 14 months are going to be wild.

Regards,
George

Will NFL Referees Bailout US Banks From Foreclosuregate Penalty?

Posted by AGORACOM at 4:03 PM on Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

"If It's Uncatchable, I Shouldbn't Be Penalized For Interference"

The “in the event we were fraudulent” backup arguments are already starting:

Losses on the mortgages packaged into bonds come amid “persistently high unemployment and other economic trends, diminishing the likelihood that any loan defect should one exist at all, was the cause of the loan’s default,” Noski said.

The banks are hoping NFL referees will step in and say “There is no flag on the play as we have ruled the ball was uncatchable”

Ah JPM, if only you had sold the crap mortgages to Jerry Jones, this argument might have worked for you.

Regards,
George

Regards,

BREAKING …. Battle Of The Foreclosure Titans Begins

Posted by AGORACOM at 3:06 PM on Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

Via Bloomberg

Pimco, NY Fed Said to Seek Bank of America Repurchase of Mortgages

Pacific Investment Management Co., BlackRock Inc. and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York are seeking to force Bank of America Corp. to repurchase soured mortgages packaged into $47 billion of bonds by its Countrywide Financial Corp. unit, people familiar with the matter said.

A bondholder group wrote to Bank of America and Bank of New York Mellon Corp., the debt’s trustee, citing alleged failures by Countrywide to service the loans properly, their lawyer said yesterday in a statement that didn’t name the firms.

Investors are stepping up efforts to recoup losses on mortgage bonds, which plummeted in value amid the worst slump in home prices since the 1930s. Last month, BNY Mellon declined to investigate mortgage files in response to a demand from the bondholder group, which has since expanded. Countrywide’s servicing failures, including insufficient record keeping, may open the door for investors to seek repurchases by bypassing the trustee, said Kathy Patrick, their lawyer at Gibbs & Bruns LLP.

“We now are in a position where we have to start a clock ticking,” Patrick, who is based in Houston, said today in a telephone interview.

MetLife Inc., the biggest U.S. life insurer, is part of the group represented by Gibbs & Bruns, said the people, who declined to be identified because the discussions aren’t public. TCW Group Inc., the manager of $110 billion in assets, expects to join BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, and Pimco, which runs the biggest bond fund, in the group, the people said.

Read The Full Story At Bloomberg

First, let’s be clear that the source for the story are “people familiar with the matter.”  As such, it remains to be confirmed by any of the parties involved – but we are going to bet that Bloomberg has the story right.

Second, if and when this story gets confirmed, I’ve been pounding the table on this for the past week and continue to assert this is a problem waaaayyy beyond the US Federal Government.  In fact, I repeat my statement that “The Federal Government Has No Wand To Waive” because this problem involves State pension funds, foreign governments, local homeowners and now industry monsters such as Pimco and BlackRock, let alone the New York Federal Reserve.

This is going to be the bloodbath for the banks and their friends in Washington will not be able to save the day.

Rejoice! At Least 1 Democrat Is Speaking Out On Foreclosure Gate

Posted by AGORACOM at 6:24 AM on Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

I’ve always digged Dylan Ratigan for not towing the party line of his network employers.  No business news Anchor has called for Wall Street jail time and penalties than him.

Hence, if you are a pissed off American that wants to make sure banks are not bailed out by commission (TARP 2) or omission (failure of US Gov to penalize banks under the law), then the following 8 minute video is a must see.

Thanks Dylan. You’re the man.