[CutePuppy]

Full article available without subscription. Very interesting information, far from typical "the sky is falling" and "we need to bail out poor homeowners" fare.

[CutePuppy]

Here’s somewhat related article in NYPost :
http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/print.php?url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/08302007/business/sen__schumer_leans_hard_on_cou.htm

SEN. SCHUMER LEANS HARD ON COUNTRYWIDE

August 30, 2007 — Senator Charles Schumer asked Countrywide Financial Corp. to waive prepayment penalties, refinance loans and eliminate “above-market fees” to help homeowners struggling to make payments on subprime mortgages.

Countrywide, the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, should stop paying higher commissions to brokers who steer borrowers to high-cost loans that “are designed to fail,” Schumer told reporters in Washington yesterday.

“I am calling on Countrywide, as our nation’s largest lender, to bury its bad business practices and reverse some of the damage it has already inflicted on our housing market,” Schumer said.

Schumer, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, has been among the most vocal lawmakers seeking tighter restrictions on mortgage brokers.

He introduced legislation in May to set U.S. standards for brokers, including requiring them to assess a borrower’s ability to repay at a loan’s highest interest rate.

“Countrywide’s most lucrative brokers are those that make bad loans that are largely designed to fail the borrower,” Schumer said.

.....

[Larry Lucido]

Amateur speculators taking a bath. Another “duh” moment.

[TheLion]

Good article. Thanks.

[Calpernia]

ping

[ikka]

You don’t make your money when you sell your stocks, bonds, or investments. You make it when you BUY your stocks, bonds, or investments.

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

And Chucky Shumer is screaming to bail these speculators out. I really need to stop being responsible, blow my wad and cash in on communism. I’m thinking I can make this work for me. I’ve always wanted to drive an Aston Martin. Maybe I can take out a subprime loan on a DBS for 100%, never make a payment and scream “Bailout! Bailout!”

[metesky]

Investors Speculators Default On Outsize Share Of Home Loans

[JasonC]

Of course. With prices rising 15% per year and IRs 3-5%, and terms so easy you could buy for nothing to 3% down, speculators played "heads I win, tails you lose" with the banks, over the continuation of the bubble. If prices rose 30% they'd make 5 or 10 times their risked capital, or more. If they fall 30% instead, the bank gets stuck with the loss. The reason prices could rise to stratospheric levels is everyone involved believed somebody else was taking the downside risk.

And who is actually getting stuck with the downside? A few fund investors first, and then everyone via general inflation or financial crisis.