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DantesPeak
Expert
Joined: Oct 23, 2004
Posts: 5891
Location: New Jersey
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 Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 3:08 pm Post subject: Re: Housing & Economic Collapse - In Progress |
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AMBAC accuses Bear Stearns of fraud:
| Quote: | Ambac: Deteriorating Bonds Could Be A Sign Of Fraud
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
April 23, 2008 3:24 p.m.
By Lavonne Kuykendall
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc. (ABK) has hired outside legal and forensic experts to examine 17 of its financial guarantee transactions and may seek to cancel the contracts if the experts uncover evidence of fraud, David Wallis, Ambac's chief risk officer, said Wednesday.
He singled out two specific transactions as examples of the type of transaction that is under scrutiny and said the company was taking a two-pronged approach to examining transactions that have performed much worse than expected.
One way, "difficult and time-consuming," is going through the securities loan by loan, which Wallis said the company is doing.
The second "grander theory" approach is "not loan by loan, but a more grand scale fraudulent inducement."
One transaction that has performed below expectations is a deal with Bear Stearns Co. (BSC) that closed in April 2007.
On its Web site, Ambac lists three Bear deals under the 2007-1 name, with a total net par exposure of $790.6 million in second mortgages and home equity lines of credit as of the end of March. Originally, all three were rated A+ but are all considered below investment grade now, Ambac said.
Ambac originally projected that losses on the underlying collateral of the Bear Stearns transaction would be between 10% and 12%, but now expects losses of 81.8% of underlying collateral, a transaction that has seen an unexpectedly "rapid escalation of losses."
Some of the factors the company will examine include loan-level document review and a review of legal documents "focusing on representations and warranties," Wallis said. "Hypotheses are being built which involve fraudulent activity in various guises."
"If they can demonstrate there was fraud, they don't pay" is the general legal standard for such contracts, Gregory Hindy, a partner with Newark law firm McCarter & English LLP told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.
Hindy said that such lawsuits in the bond insurance industry are rare but that he expects to see more of them in coming months.
To get out of a contract, the insurer would have to make the case that "had these been accurately described," the insurer would not have entered the contract. |
WSJ |
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Armageddon
Fusion
Joined: Apr 13, 2005
Posts: 3010
Location: St.Louis, Mo
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 10:02 pm Post subject: Re: Housing & Economic Collapse - In Progress |
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Is this about the same in the US ? |
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jdmartin
Intermediate Crude
Joined: May 19, 2005
Posts: 795
Location: Merry Ol' USA
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:19 pm Post subject: Re: Housing & Economic Collapse - In Progress |
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Yeah it's about the same here. My wife says the price of everything is going crazy in the stores. Pasta that we usually bought for about 99 cents on sale, 1.09 normal is selling for 1.69. That's a 55% increase. And she says that's like that on everything. I noticed that NewCastle beer (my favorite) has gone up about 2 bucks a 12 pack, a buck & a half a six pack. This is just within the past month or so. Eggs are about $2, they've gone up 100% in about 1.5 years.
I know this to be true because I do all our budgeting so I get all the receipts, and I'm shocked at how little food you get for the money anymore.
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After fueling up their cars, Twyman says they bowed their heads and asked God for cheaper gas.There was no immediate answer, but he says other motorists joined in and the service station owner didn't run them off. |
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IslandCrow
Intermediate Crude
Joined: Sep 12, 2005
Posts: 825
Location: Finland
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| Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 3:45 am Post subject: Re: Housing & Economic Collapse - In Progress |
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First UBS now Credit Suisse reports a loss.
However, I think the prize must go to this quote (note that this is from a bank executive and not someone here on PO.com): | Quote: | | "In this crisis, a number of times people have seen a light at the end of the tunnel and it has ended up being a train coming down the tracks," said Brady Dougan, chief executive of Credit Suisse. |
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We should teach our children the 4-Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rejoice. |
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hironegro
Heavy Crude
Joined: Apr 08, 2008
Posts: 326
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| Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 4:17 am Post subject: Re: Housing & Economic Collapse - In Progress |
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| jdmartin wrote: | Yeah it's about the same here. My wife says the price of everything is going crazy in the stores. Pasta that we usually bought for about 99 cents on sale, 1.09 normal is selling for 1.69. That's a 55% increase. And she says that's like that on everything. I noticed that NewCastle beer (my favorite) has gone up about 2 bucks a 12 pack, a buck & a half a six pack. This is just within the past month or so. Eggs are about $2, they've gone up 100% in about 1.5 years.
I know this to be true because I do all our budgeting so I get all the receipts, and I'm shocked at how little food you get for the money anymore. |
Food prices are killing me too as well, but when in history have people paid about 18% of their income for food!? We are still producing/consuming cheap food in the west. |
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jdmartin
Intermediate Crude
Joined: May 19, 2005
Posts: 795
Location: Merry Ol' USA
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| Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 8:23 am Post subject: Re: Housing & Economic Collapse - In Progress |
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| hironegro wrote: |
Food prices are killing me too as well, but when in history have people paid about 18% of their income for food!? We are still producing/consuming cheap food in the west. |
Oh I don't disagree with that. Still, when you see food prices jumping 50% in a couple of months on a lot of items not only does it make a dent, it makes for some serious concern as well.
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After fueling up their cars, Twyman says they bowed their heads and asked God for cheaper gas.There was no immediate answer, but he says other motorists joined in and the service station owner didn't run them off. |
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RonMN
Fission
Joined: Mar 18, 2005
Posts: 2615
Location: Minnesota
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| Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 9:57 am Post subject: Re: Housing & Economic Collapse - In Progress |
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Dantes Quoted:
Ambac originally projected that losses on the underlying collateral of the Bear Stearns transaction would be between 10% and 12%, but now expects losses at 81.8% of underlying collateral,
HOLY SPIT!
And the litigation to follow...MAN that ain't good!
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Quis custodiet ipsos custodes. |
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emersonbiggins
Moderator
Joined: Jul 10, 2005
Posts: 5047
Location: Dallas
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| Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 10:13 am Post subject: Re: Housing & Economic Collapse - In Progress |
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More great news from new home sales...
▪ New home sales come in much weaker than expected - 526k vs. 577k expected
▪ 11 month inventory unsold (highest in 27 years)
▪ Sales down 36.6% YOY
New home sales plunge 8.5% to 17-year low in March - MarketWatch
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"It's called the American Dream because you'd have to be asleep to believe it."
George Carlin |
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jdmartin
Intermediate Crude
Joined: May 19, 2005
Posts: 795
Location: Merry Ol' USA
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| Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:55 am Post subject: Re: Housing & Economic Collapse - In Progress |
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Phew! Looks like we're just about to see a housing bonanza! Million-dollar flips everywhere! Every man a king! Disaster averted! (do I sound like a commentator yet  ?)
_________________
After fueling up their cars, Twyman says they bowed their heads and asked God for cheaper gas.There was no immediate answer, but he says other motorists joined in and the service station owner didn't run them off. |
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mos6507
Fusion
Joined: Aug 03, 2007
Posts: 3638
Location: Boston Suburbs
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| Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 12:44 pm Post subject: Re: Housing & Economic Collapse - In Progress |
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| Out here in Los Angeles, prices are still out of control. There is a long way to go still. |
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EnergyUnlimited
Fusion
Joined: May 15, 2006
Posts: 3108
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| Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 1:51 pm Post subject: Re: Housing & Economic Collapse - In Progress |
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That explains todays bullish sentiments on Wall Street.
Perhaps investors prefer shares over houses |
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gnm
Expert
Joined: Jul 08, 2004
Posts: 2644
Location: plundering eco-villages
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| Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 1:57 pm Post subject: Re: Housing & Economic Collapse - In Progress |
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Its all roses in the news now!
Whoohoo The dollar gained 2 cents! Party on!
Oil _plummeted_ to $116! Party on!
I'm not so sanguine..... 
-G
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All right, you primitive screw-heads, listen up! |
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vision-master
Fusion
Joined: May 18, 2006
Posts: 4333
Location: Minneapolis, MN
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| Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 2:02 pm Post subject: Re: Housing & Economic Collapse - In Progress |
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| gnm wrote: | Its all roses in the news now!
Whoohoo The dollar gained 2 cents! Party on!
Oil _plummeted_ to $116! Party on!
I'm not so sanguine.....
-G |
an I just found a bunch of spaggity durum wheat noddles for under $1.25 a pack. Stock up baby..........  |
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RonMN
Fission
Joined: Mar 18, 2005
Posts: 2615
Location: Minnesota
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| Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 2:50 pm Post subject: Re: Housing & Economic Collapse - In Progress |
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Here we go again...Round 2 just getting warmed up.
Quote:
Moody’s Investors Service issued more Alt-A downgrades on Thursday morning, this time taking a heavy hand to 32 different Aaa-rated tranches from 10 different Alt-A deals. Many of the downgrades even pushed former Aaa’s into non-investment grade categories
Moody’s Begins Downgrading AAA-Rated Alt-A RMBS to Junk
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Quis custodiet ipsos custodes. |
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FoxV
Light Sweet Crude
Joined: Mar 02, 2005
Posts: 1337
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 3:54 pm Post subject: Re: Housing & Economic Collapse - In Progress |
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And now for something completely different...
Debt Collection Done From India Appeals to U.S. Agencies
Talk about rubbing salt in the wound. Not only have you lost your job to China, your home to a European bank and your wife to your neighbor. Now some Indian guy who can barely speak English is going to call you twice a week and hassle you for your pocket change.
This is going to end well |
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