Economics Update

First, news of the stupid, Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has reduced the reserve capital requirements for the GSEs, so Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be able to loan another 200 billion out.

The problem is blow back from too much leverage, so you are allowing more leverage?

There are people walking away from their homes now because they realize that it will be 10+ years before they have any equity at all in their homes, and you want more exposure to the 2nd and 3rd largest borrowers in the world?

BTW one of the interesting points about yesterday's rate cuts was that the dollar strengthened, which really runs counter to the normal motion. The analysts say that this was because it indicated that the Fed was really going to keep the economy out of recession.

Well, that lasted about 24 hours (here and here)

Of course no bit of economic news is complete without the performance art/low humor known as a press release from one of the monoliner insurers, in this case
Ambac claiming that it had "no material exposure" to the Bear Stearns debacle.

Yeah, sure. I may not be an economist, but I know weasel words when I hear them.


BTW, one of the CEOs of the big 3 auto makers are expecting sales to be poor this year. Such insight. That must be why they get paid 7 figures a year plus bonus.

Mortgage application volume fell 2.9% last week. No one is lending, and no one is buying.

Finally, we have Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers conducting a fire sale on some of their dicier oinvestments fire sale on debt associated with leveraged buy-outs and private equity deals.

This is considered a good thing, which locally, it is. If you pump radioactive waste out of your basement, into the town reservoir, you are doing better personally.