Bruce Krasting's blog

Just another good news story. The Feds are doing the right thing on loan mods. They will be accelerating the process. The unintended consequence will be that defaults and foreclosures will have to rise. When? About 5 months from now.

The new guy at FHFA Edward DeMarco has some moxie. I think he has dished up a tough question to the 'deciders'. His question begs an answer from Weak Tim. Silence.....

Another reason for markets to puke. The GDP report. There are very high expectations. Hang on if reality falls short.

The vote was as shoo-in all the way. There was some noise but it did not amount to much. Bernanke has too many friends for a Senate slap down. One of them is Alan Blinder. Let's just say we don't agree.

RealtyTrac has new numbers out. More bad news in my opinion. The trend is continuing and this trend is not our 'friend'.

A discussion of the cash flows of Agency MBS and what it means to Fed policy. It might be the basis of QE 2.0 Lite. Also a side story on how Big Ben juiced the market in March/April of last year. Just another one of those things that were done to put some money on the 'Street'.

What a terrible day. Rained and blew like hell. I stayed inside and solved part of the problem of the deficit.

Forgive me for a bit of a rant. I'm pissed. Any talk of addressing the problems at America's government mortgage lenders has been put on hold for another year. Why? Politics. The worst possible reason.

What a beating the Administration took tonight! I think this is a real life example of a Greek Tragedy. What does it mean? I think it could mean a lot.

From the MSM I was getting a sense that the Census hiring might be a factor in the employment story. I don't think it adds up to a hill of beans.

Just another day at the office. Treasury, Fannie, Freddie and HUD have completed a sweet deal. Another $30b down a hole. But his time it won't cost us a cent. Honest, really, this time it'll be different. Lies.

The Big Bonus story is coming out and boy is it going to stink. D.C. has done it's best to put lipstick on this pig. A talking down to the bank bosses and a 'see through' tax. That strategy is not going work.

I stirred a debate on Social Security. Some economists from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) chimed in. They sort of supported me. Some 'experts' thought I was 'peddling crap'. There is a market twist to this. It isn't in the price today. But I think it will be soon enough.
The folks at Angry Bear didn't think too much of what I wrote. Their thoughts, my response.

Big devaluation in Venezuela over the weekend. The locals knew about it in advance. The Black Market was trading at 3X's the official rate.

Does it matter? I think it might. It is just more of that 'sovereign risk" story that keeps popping up.

Thoughts on Japan from John Maynard Keynes. This economist is more powerful today than he was when he was alive. I wonder what he would really say about the Nikkei. Also some interesting information from the CIA. I am always looking for 'clues'.