Mind Over Market

Thursday, August 19, the day that Treasury and HUD held a conference on the future of mortgage finance -- including the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, who fought belligerently and vindictively against anyone who tried to rein in Fannie and Freddie for more than a decade, was on CNBC and Fox Business trying to rewrite history. This clip gives some insight into Barney Frank then versus Barney Frank now. Can Barney Frank ever have a conversation that does not include ridicule of and sneering at people who disagree with him? This video was put together by Barney Frank's opposition in the upcoming election, Sean Bielat. Read more at http://www.retirebarney.com/ .

By Robert Stowe England July 22, 2010 "Like the Saturday Night Live lunch counter from the late 1970s that, regardless of what the customers reasonably requested, offered only cheeseburgers, chips, and Pepsi, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act (the Mortgage Reform Act) would essentially mandate that all flavors of mortgage loans besides 'plain vanilla' may disappear from the menu," write Krstie D. Kully and Laurence E. Platt at K&L Gates LLP law firm. Their assessment appears in a newsletter released by the law firm July 8, that can be read at this link: http://www.klgates.com/newsstand/Detail.aspx?publication=6528 This section of massive Frank-Dodd financial services bill targets originators of mortgages that are not plain vanilla. These companies and institutions are targeted for "punishment through enhanced monetary damages, defense to foreclosure and risk retention requirements," Kully and Platt state. "Only time will tell whethe...

In the financial regulatory overhaul bill that passed the House December 11, insufficient regulation of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives 'renders impotent' the enhanced resolution powers aimed at making sure large financial institutions are not too big to fail, according to economist Robert Johnson. By Robert Stowe England MindOverMarket.blogspot.com December 13, 2009 The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act that passed the House of Representatives December 11 on a 232-202 party-line vote fails to attain its intended objective to rid the regulatory regime of the moral hazard of too-big-to-fail. Thus, the bill, known in Capitol Hill short-hand as H.R. 4173, does not protect the tax payer from future financial crises when regulators will once again be compelled to bail out major financial institutions that fail, economist Robert Johnson has told Mind Over Market . The complete text of the interview with Johnson, who is the Director of Financial Reform at the...