It’s late, I’m tired and in the midst of all sorts of quandaries but I have two excellent blog posts that you must read. Both go against conventional wisdom and both have enough data and reasoned analysis to make you rethink your preconceptions.

The first is a part of a four-part series that John Hempton is doing on Fannie and Freddie. Actually, the link takes you to the second post in the series so when you go there, follow John’s link to the first and read it. Hempton is basing blowing apart a lot of superficial analysis on where the GSE’s losses originated. I can’t wait to see his conclusions about the future of the two.

The second post is by Accrued Interest. He quotes a Merrill Lynch study that seems to indicate that the consumer is not that much over leveraged, at least the consumers that count. Once again, counter intuitive and worth a good long look.

And with that, goodnight.