The news out of Illinois was to say the least stunning. That a sitting governor could be charged with trying to sell a seat in the United States Senate is breathtaking in its audacity. As a piece of the revelations about ethical, excuse me criminal, behavior among all elements of the Republic it is troubling […]

Last night I wrote a brief post about David Sanger’s article in the New York Times concerning the seeming nationalization of the Detroit auto makers and the consequences of the action. Part of the article was devoted to the politically charged nature of the word “nationalization.” Today, two blogs that I follow and generally feel […]

Here’s an item for the truly lamentable file. A study of mathematic and science skills among students in 37 countries shows that the U.S. lags badly behind students in other countries. The study was done by Boston College and it followed-up on a study done four years ago. It tested fourth and eighth graders. Around […]

Admittedly its the end of the year and Treasuries are much in demand for window dressing but that still doesn’t stop one from looking at the action in the credit markets today and taking a deep breath. John Jansen does a far better job than I can at describing the market in his blog, Across […]

Fannie Mae has taken a series of steps to make the loan modification process simpler for servicers. The new program also aims to catch borrowers earlier in the delinquency cycle. The key change which becomes effective with new MBS pools allows for removal of a loan from a pool once a loan is delinquent 30 […]