tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-940142538364421402.post2461124689672678488..comments2024-03-02T02:30:55.592-08:00Comments on Bill Maloni's GSE Blog: "Money, that’s what I want...whole lotta money"Bill Malonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17459277100798719104noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-940142538364421402.post-15290388295589874712014-02-28T14:59:54.996-08:002014-02-28T14:59:54.996-08:00Sorry for not getting each after they appeared.
A...Sorry for not getting each after they appeared.<br /><br />Anon 1<br /><br />Apparently, the only thing the Obama Admin likes about F&F is the money they bring into the Treasury. Anything any Admin official says about how either F&F stock performs will ignored.<br /><br />I assume the Admin will file with the Judge to make sure that plaintiffs can't divulge to media, etc. anything obtained in "discovery."<br /><br />After that it's wait out the process or settle.<br /><br />The first entails, likely, years with Obama being long gone and there's no real incentive to do the second.<br /><br />Anon 2<br /><br />That story will be my next blog and I heard about it a week before it appeared, thanks to one of he folks quoted in it.<br /><br />Anon 3<br /><br />See answer to Anon 1.<br /><br />Why would the Obama Admin want anything else "embarrassing" about its performance to come out now, when by waiting, this President will be long gone?<br /><br />And, if the record is filled with corner cutting and dubious reasons to treat F&F punitively--as some suspect--those exposures won't help build the future "Obama Library."Bill Malonihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17459277100798719104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-940142538364421402.post-84067595904040951782014-02-27T19:09:56.434-08:002014-02-27T19:09:56.434-08:00What I don't understand is why the government ...What I don't understand is why the government would risk the time and expense going to court with something that is so obviously unconstitutional. I mean wasn't it Tim Palagria that made the point that the gov might be required to pay the sweep money back? As a taxpayer I consider the continuance of this goat rope to be classic government waste. Holding the GSEs hostage until they write the law to further harm shareholders is absurd!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-940142538364421402.post-60297584959912842922014-02-27T14:09:35.120-08:002014-02-27T14:09:35.120-08:00http://business-news.thestreet.com/denver-post/sto...http://business-news.thestreet.com/denver-post/story/fannie-and-freddie-plaintiffs-eye-fdic-share-sales/12460420Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-940142538364421402.post-70297087239222909402014-02-27T13:31:19.209-08:002014-02-27T13:31:19.209-08:00Thanks for the input. I realize the govt. doesn&#...Thanks for the input. I realize the govt. doesn't have any concrete action(s) at the moment, but I find it a bit curious that they haven't come out and said anything in regard to the way the commons/pfds are trading. I think back to when GM was headed towards BK and can recall multiple attempts to get people to stop trading in the common...with such language as 'this is worthless'. We haven't had a similar experience with these. I'm certain the TSY is aware of the trading levels in not only the commons, but the prefs. Do you think we'll get some rhetoric out of these folks addressing the trading, etc?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-940142538364421402.post-24326177835847201342014-02-27T12:39:38.933-08:002014-02-27T12:39:38.933-08:00To the extent that I can get "all over" ...To the extent that I can get "all over" an issue, I have been all over this since last yesterday afternoon, when the decision was announced.<br /><br />I will write more in the next blog, but near term--as you might expect--the preferred and common shareholders (especially those who post on Fannie and Freddie boards) are ecstatic and believe they all will become millionaires in a few weeks, as they point fingers and laugh at those who may have sold, early, on the run up.<br /><br />And, indeed, some may.<br /><br />Near term this is a setback for the government should provide the Fairholme lawyers with lots of access to stuff the government, IMO, wishes plaintiffs lawyer didn't have.<br /><br />To the extent it is permissible, the Fairholme lawyers might share it with lawyers for other interested parties. Some could leak out, but I doubt if we suddenly are going to see lots being disgorged as part of a PR campaign to embarrass the federal government, which just might PO the Judge.<br /><br />I also think that this and related forthcoming events takes much of the steam out of legislative proceedings.<br /><br />Not that the latter can't happen but they won't have the meaning they might once had had.<br /><br />Some people--but I am not yet one of them--think the time for a major mortgage market legislative restructuring is history.Bill Malonihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17459277100798719104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-940142538364421402.post-86151873539966397942014-02-27T09:30:55.910-08:002014-02-27T09:30:55.910-08:00Bill...did you catch that Judge Sweeney has ruled ...Bill...did you catch that Judge Sweeney has ruled in Berkowitz's favor on discovery? I realize there is a (real) long haul in front of all the lawsuits, but I have to think this is at least a minor blow to the TSY. In your opinion, was there much of a chance that the courts would have rejected the arguement of further discovery? In addition, any idea what they may find in relation to the 'evidence' of future profitabilies of these two, etc? Thanks for the input...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-940142538364421402.post-80321607542566286592014-02-25T16:50:11.119-08:002014-02-25T16:50:11.119-08:00Maybe--But the market here, for most of the prefer...Maybe--But the market here, for most of the preferred and some of the common, are hedge funds and other institutional investors, for whom there is little public/political support and lots of public/political disdain.<br /><br />(Although I don't think the SCOTUS will view their case with the same disdain that many in the Congress and media do.)<br /><br />If what you are saying is some combination of the "public" in their investor role, the "public" in their mortgage market commercial participants role, and the "public" in their "borrower would be mortgagor" role will stand up in unison and demand that F&F are revitalized and maintained, you'll have a hell of a political resurrection and fabulous movie script going for you.<br /><br />And, I hope you've nailed it.<br /><br />Just tell me when this mob arrives, so I can fan and feed them!Bill Malonihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17459277100798719104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-940142538364421402.post-76323303211141228982014-02-25T15:48:27.686-08:002014-02-25T15:48:27.686-08:00BillI, I think the market is sending the governmen...BillI, I think the market is sending the government a message that the shareholder is the real owner of the GSEs. The market will be the revolution and will determine the true value, in my opinion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-940142538364421402.post-41479912430659809242014-02-25T14:58:28.869-08:002014-02-25T14:58:28.869-08:00Anon---
If all that Senators Johnson and Crapo pr...Anon---<br /><br />If all that Senators Johnson and Crapo produce is a set of principles, then the legislative game is over for 2014 and possibly longer. (That action will reflect and inability to agree among a fairly thoughtful group of Senators.)<br /><br />But,as we've blogged about for months the "taxpayers holding the bag" scare rhetoric, employed by both parties, doesn't match the market reality.<br /><br />The strong regulation--put in place since 2008--virtually guarantees that F&F can ever be involved in the kinds of losses associated with those pre-2008 entities when they bought the poisonous and near valueless PLS.<br /><br />One never says never, but I don't believe a repeat of 2008 can happen, with F&F as the bad guys. <br /><br />So, observers need to understand that.<br /><br />In the meantime, the two are sending plenty of revenue to the Treasury, more or less building up<br />reserves if some other mortgage market players screw up.<br /><br />When that dawns on Congress, which has far higher priorities than "What do we do with F&F?," the tendency will be to kick this can further down the road.<br /><br />Even if the R's take over the Senate and try to produce a Hensarling type bill, the industries will oppose them and Obama likely would veto it.<br /><br />The coming drama may involve what a Congress might do, if the Courts decide for the plaintiffs in the multiple lawsuits facing Treasury and FHFA.Bill Malonihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17459277100798719104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-940142538364421402.post-50940141879293967832014-02-25T12:12:41.472-08:002014-02-25T12:12:41.472-08:00Thanks Bill. Insightful as usual. Do you expect Me...Thanks Bill. Insightful as usual. Do you expect Messrs Johnson/Crapo's "common principles" to appease an administration publicly calling for a bill that "protects taxpayers from footing the bill for a housing crisis"? Or will those calls require a more solid effort? It's easy to see how the SOTU comments may have been empty threats aimed at appeasement but the worry is, I think you'd agree, that it's now or never on housing fin reform. Folks may act differently with that kind of dangling sword. Please advise.<br />AnonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-940142538364421402.post-5634865706814715982014-02-24T21:00:22.734-08:002014-02-24T21:00:22.734-08:00Three Anons, which I'll try to answer separate...Three Anons, which I'll try to answer separately.<br /><br />Anon 1.<br /><br />Hot air and rhetoric are very cheap in DC; ladled out by the tanks full with little dot-connecting or rationalizing. Don't expect and Senator or Congressman to recognize lawsuits or anything else which inhibit their grandiose legislative hyperbole...despite reality.<br /><br />Most will tell you--and will act, accordingly--"That's the Court's issue, not ours."<br /><br />Anon 2.<br /><br />Warner may have been duped by Corker and not have thought through the issue I and others have been raising, which is how to run for r-election when your name is on a bill to throw out of work 10,000-12,000 state, with all of the financial and social downside that connotes, from loss of state income revenue to heavier state and federal benefits for jobless employees and their families. Throw in economic dislocation in northern Virginia and his support is a real shocker.<br /><br />Warner will hear about it when he has a GOP opponent and maybe in the run-up to November's election. But, the guy is a multi-millionaire, doesn't need the job, and may be insensitive to the implications of his actions.<br /><br />Anon 3<br /><br />I won't attack Mayopolous. He's reportedly a decent and smart guy, but--face it--he is a government employee. If he steps too far out of line, he'll get canned.<br /><br />Remember, he's not a corporate executive, making decisions that are market sensitive and lean and nimble. Very far from it.<br /><br />I once had hope for some guerilla efforts, from inside Fannie Mae, but it was reliably reported to me that its board looked too askance at "ringing the Liberty Bell" (my phrase) or acting too entrepreneurial and crushed the idea, as in "We can't do that!"Bill Malonihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17459277100798719104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-940142538364421402.post-45076994955484625372014-02-24T17:30:26.319-08:002014-02-24T17:30:26.319-08:00Timothy Mayopolous needs to step up to the "R...Timothy Mayopolous needs to step up to the "Right Thing To Do Microphone" and state that while he is very very happy for taxpayers, he is also concerned about leaving his employees in limbo and that the continued conservatorship nature of Treasury taking all future earnings is contrary to the basic principles of free market capitalism! What's wrong with this country when it inhibits people from stating the obvious?!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-940142538364421402.post-68786061820396206332014-02-24T17:13:06.585-08:002014-02-24T17:13:06.585-08:00I want to know how the state of Virginia tolerates...I want to know how the state of Virginia tolerates Senator Warners idea to eliminate Freddie Mac in his own backyard thus destroying jobs and local economy? The voters need to send him a "wind down" message!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-940142538364421402.post-5302066182039637812014-02-24T17:02:16.643-08:002014-02-24T17:02:16.643-08:00Nice Blog Bill,
Regarding your reference to the v...Nice Blog Bill,<br /><br />Regarding your reference to the various ideas and bills to reform the GSEs, I was wondering how many brain cells are exercised exploring what to with the assets and 14,000 shareholders. Both the Corker/Warner and Hensarling proposals talk about placing the GSEs into mandatory receivership, but I don't understand how that is possible when they have been earning billions for years. And talk about turning the blind eye, there are some 19+ lawsuits out there plus more on the way, I am told. This major hint of confusion was revealed at the Financial Service Roundtable as the "show stopper" in my opinion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com