I received a question on my recent article titled “The Golden Age of America” and I wanted to post my response for your benefit.  

Would-be first-time buyers have had a hard time of it. They want to buy a house, but time and again many are thwarted by the same problem. They can’t afford to buy a house. Not being able to afford something is a very common problem in markets.

Have you ever been rock climbing? If you have, you’ll be familiar with that slightly panicked feeling you sometimes get on the way down. Your hands cling on, sweat seeping through the chalk on your fingers, as your foot probes the rock face below for a foothold.

Fannie Mae is supposed to be prime, but it turns out that much of its loan book is made up of less than perfect credit.

Forbes reports that yesterday “Fannie Mae executives told analysts that 43.0%, or $946 million, of the $2.2 billion in losses incurred during the first quarter involved Alt-A loans. They also said that the company’s ‘Alt-A book will continue to drive an outsize portion of our overall credit losses.’

Everything is calm in the markets…happy belated April Fools Day! Sink or swim? What happens when stock markets make a big splash?

For the past few weeks there’s been a lot of talk about the senate and house drafting a plan to bail out mortgage holders. The plan is to let judges change the terms of the mortgages. That means changing the amount owed and setting lower rates. Can you believe that?