"Morgan Stanley freezes home-equity credit lines
Morgan Stanley, the second-biggest US securities firm, told several thousand clients they won't be allowed to withdraw money on their home equity credit lines, said a person familiar with the situation. The action mostly affected clients with properties that have lost value, according to the person, who declined to be identified because the information isn't public. The New York investment bank will review home equity lines of credit monthly from now on, the person said. Wall Street firms including Morgan Stanley are ratcheting back on risks after the collapse of the subprime mortgage market and ensuing credit contraction saddled banks and brokerages with almost $500 billion of write-downs and losses. Consumers fell behind on home equity credit lines at the fastest pace in two decades in the first quarter, the American Bankers Association reported last month (Bloomberg)."
I do wonder WHERE all that BAILOUT MONEY went!!!!
"Bank hired to assess mortgage lenders' risk" by Associated Press | August 6, 2008
WASHINGTON - The Treasury Department said yesterday it had hired investment firm Morgan Stanley to help the government assess the risks facing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Then WHAT the HELL is it that YOU REGULATORS DO, anyway?!
WTF?!?!
For $95,000 to cover the company's expenses, Morgan Stanley will assess the state of the mortgage market and give the government a financial profile of the two firms. The two mortgage firms received a promise of support from the federal government as part of a sweeping housing rescue bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush last week.
Treasury spokeswoman Brookly McLaughlin said the contract would help ensure the Treasury Department had good advice to decide how to support the two mortgage firms, which together own or guarantee half of all US mortgages.
While Congress gave Treasury the authority to extend an unlimited amount of loans to the two companies, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has stressed that the new authority is a back-up measure that will not be used unless market conditions worsen.
Well, we have HEARD THAT BEFORE!!!
In a statement, Morgan Stanley chairman John Mack said his company would help the government evaluate "various alternatives for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."
"We are pleased to be able to offer our services to the government and look forward to working with Secretary Paulson and his team," Mack said.
Yeah, CHA-CHING!!!!
The contract will run until Jan. 17, three days before the next president is sworn into office. McLaughlin said that was a consideration in determining how long the contract would last.
The administration on July 13 unveiled a plan to provide unlimited government loans to the two mortgage giants and to purchase stock in the two companies, if needed, for a period covering the next 18 months. Congress ultimately adopted those proposals as part of a broader bill that also seeks to help keep 400,000 households from losing their homes to foreclosure.
Critics charged that the open-ended nature of the support for Fannie and Freddie would expose taxpayers to billions of dollars of potential losses.
Paulson has insisted that the package needed to be structured in this way to boost financial markets' confidence as the companies deal with mounting losses from mortgages that have gone bad."
Yeah, FUCK the AMERICAN PEOPLE!!!!
And what is MS's first move at Fannie and Freddie?
"Fannie Mae fee likely to raise loan costs
Government-chartered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been tightening standards and raising fees since last year to boost revenue and limit losses amid the worst housing slump since the 1930s. The changes have made it harder or more expensive for borrowers to get home financing...."
Seriously, WHERE did ALL THAT BAILOUT LOOT GO?
NEW YORK - The Federal Reserve's proposed rules for credit card lenders could lead to the banking industry losing at least $10.6 billion in interest annually, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said in a letter to regulators, citing a study.
In May, the Federal Reserve and other regulators proposed steps to end what they called "unfair and deceptive" practices in the credit card industry. The rules aim to protect people from having their interest rates raised arbitrarily, among other practices.
In a letter sent Monday to the Fed's board of governors, the Office of Thrift Supervision and National Credit Union Administration, JPMorgan's Chase Bank subsidiary said the proposed regulation, if finalized, "is likely to have profound effects on Chase's operations and financial results."
Translation: If they aren't allowed to gouge the hell out of us, they will go poor!!!!
WHERE DID THAT BAILOUT $$$ GO?
