I have to be honest, I am still flammable angry about the Patriots game yesterday. This is year 4 of a horrendous pass defense. I wrote plenty last year asking serious questions about coach Bill Belichick's ability to run a defense. I am still wondering.
At least I get to see a real team, the New Orleans Saints, play tonight. The Bayou Boys love being on Monday Night Football so good luck to the 49ers.
The Narrative
It started with Tim Geithner's "Welcome to the Recovery" Op-Ed and has now included a sort of victory lap by the President on CNBC. The all clear has been signaled and while various things are still very wrong, those things simply do not matter anymore.
Now I do not think things are really all that great, but the underlying belief right now is that the FED/Treasury has the back of the big boys. They always have, but never so openly. I would wonder what is going to happen should all those reserves get flowing.
Case in point? The developing story about mortgage fraud is a real monster. Yves Smith has been on top of this along with several other writers. For reference:
GMAC Stops Foreclosures in 23 States
More on GMAC and Foreclosure Fraud Mess: "The Shit is Hitting the Fan"
I suggest readers start with these two items and then read some more. The issue is complicated and very legally complex so it is a bit over my head to cover such a thing in any detail.
Added:
via Zero Hedge
GMAC Mortgage: "Proudly Executing Up To 10,000 Fake Documents Per Month"
The take away point is that in many cases banks my not have clear title to homes they are or have foreclosed upon. The corner cutting done is ginormous and this promises to have more underneath the surface. Just today GMAC has been doing gymnastics with retractions and press releases based on this information coming to light.
Why is this important? This could be a severe issue for the banks involved, especially if there are suits to follow. This could be a big deal. Now remember the narrative.
This is nothing. While it is important, it is also a non-issue. Why? Congress will pass a law that gets around any unpleasant legal problems for the banks and then they will ban any lawsuit attempts. You think I am kidding, but I am not. The banks will not be facing any stress over this, the recovery narrative demands it. It should not be too long until I see if I am correct.
Anyways, welcome to the recovered economy. It was a strange trip indeed.
Other Stuff
With the all clear being sounded, I may need new material!
Star Blazers Live Action Film
I used to love the cartoon "Star Blazers", which was a Japanese anime series. The central theme was built upon a WWII battle ship that was refitted for space! It was cool by the way.
There is a live action film being made in Japan! Here is the preview. Skip to the end, you know you have to see the Wave Motion Gun being fired!:
AWESOME! I hope we get an English version.
Creative Robots to Hunt You Down
As if the robot revolution needed any mor ehelp, here is the quadrotor flying assasin bug robot and at the 1:00 mark it can now think in nano seconds on how to evade human fired RPG, well hoops for now. For now:
Scary.
Have a good night.
6 comments:
Reports of the Patriots demise will to prove to be greatly exaggerated.
They got dumped on the road by a Jets team that played playoff intensity football.
Put down the sharp objects. They will be fine. Dominant? maybe not. Long season.
Color me stupid, I've got the 49ers +6.5 Opened @ 4 and apparently everyone and their brother loves NO.
Singletary will have that team ready :)
Scharfy,
Pats are done. A look at the schedule say this could be a 6 win year. We should dump the season and try and draft some cornerbacks.
Oh yeah, you lost your money, Saints LOVE monday night and are going to roll.
Fine, we'll just spot the best team in the league 9....
Ok, Niner Defense is pretty good!
Still, wind is dying down, hee hee hee....
Oh I get it now;
Alex Smith and Mark Sanchez are better than Tom Brady and Drew Brees. What a change! Great to see new talent.
Good night, you are welcome for the wind storm.
Well, it's not exactly correct to refer to this mess as mortgage fraud. What it really is is securitization fraud.
A mortgage is a lien. A note is an IOU, an agreement to pay back a loan. Title refers to owner's rights. When you have free and clear title, that means you have removed the mortgage and paid the note. Until then, the title is encumbered by the lien, which gives the holder of the note the right to foreclose on the property in the event of delinquency. But that doesn't mean you don't own the house. You can still sell it, transfer it, pass it to your heirs, improve it, demolish it, or do nothing with it, as long as the note is being serviced.
What's going on in this scandal is that the lender securitized loans, bundled them into structured investment vehicles, and sold them. But they did not transfer ownership of the notes to the investors. It's a specific legal process whereby each note requires paperwork documenting the transfer of ownership from the lender to the investor. This was not done in many cases.
So, when the borrower fails to service the note, the investor has no right to foreclose, because without documentation he cannot prove in a court of law that he owns the note. Nor can the lender, because he sold the note. He has documentation of the sale, but not possession on the instrument. It's a legal mess.
But you're right, nothing is going to be done about it. I mean, the sheer number of lawsuits involved would clog the court system for decades.
Good game by the Saints, but the 49ers lost that game. When they learn to control the ball, San Francisco will be a good team.
Can't say the same about the Cowboys. They're pathetic.
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