Implode-Explode Heavy Industries news feed

NY State Court Halts Judge Shopping in RMBS Putback Cases

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:25:44 GMT

Banks looking to judge shop in RMBS putback cases filed in New York State court are going to get shut out of the process. Apparently there are so many cases to litigate against banks, like JP Morgan and Credit Suisse selling billions of garbage mortgage securities to investors, that administrative judge Sherry Heitler has decreed all RMBS cases as of March 2013 now go to one judge. Roberta McClinton, Heitler's law clerk, confirmed this today giving the reason that similar cases need to go to one judge now because it's for ‘judicial economy'.

Hilsenrath Hits The Tape: Ignore Everything I Said Two Weeks Ago

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:47:20 GMT

``The irony here is that Hilsenrath is correct, but for another far simpler reason: the Fed simply can not shut down bond buying, at least not voluntarily, without crashing bond the stock market, and the perception that the economy is doing well (it isn't), just because the S&P hits new all time highs day after day.''

Peter Schiff: Gold Fools Shouldn't Be Selling

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:20:56 GMT

``Schiff: [The Fed] could unwind it and watch the economy implode--which is what it should do. But I'm saying it can't do so and have the recovery. People say it's just a hard trick: It's like pulling a tablecloth out from under the dishes, and the dishes don't fall. They say it is possible to do that--if you do it just right. I'm saying that that's not the trick. What they have to do is pull the table out from under the cloth.''

Robin Hood in reverse -- gold being taken down to make the rich richer

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:54:38 GMT

``At some stage all this will turn around and perhaps we'll see paper gold and silver purchases in similarly strong amounts designed to drive prices up again and make huge profits foir the big money again. That's how the major financial players with virtually unlimited resources can make squillions of dollars at the expense of people's investment savings and pension funds. It's all part of the great capitalistic rich-get-hugely-richer game and the legislators seem powerless to stop it -- if indeed they want to as they themselves are often an integral part of the process. ''

Hedge Funds In Record Gold Short Position

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:43:36 GMT

``As the following chart of the day from Bloomberg shows, as of this week, hedge funds have made "the biggest bet ever" against gold by taking Comex gold shorts to all time highs.''

Too-Big-To-Jail Dogs Obama's Justice Department As Government Documents Raise Questions

Thu, 23 May 2013 04:42:43 GMT

``It also may put further pressure on the Justice Department to strengthen future prosecutions. Recently, instead of filing criminal charges against large financial groups, federal prosecutors have begun to file criminal cases against subsidiaries. Observers including lawyers at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, a top defense firm, have warned that Justice may expand its limited use of criminal indictments in part due to public pressure.''

Foreclosure Victims Protesting Wall Street Impunity Outside DOJ Arrested, Tasered

Thu, 23 May 2013 04:40:46 GMT

``Protesters scolded Holder's remarks as they marched from Freedom Plaza to the main entrance of the Justice Department, which was barricaded by DC police and officers from DHS. After a handful of impassioned speeches, several struggling homeowners jumped the barricade. Officers quickly retreated into the building and shut the door. Before long, the barricade was torn down and hundreds of protesters flooded the exterior around the main entrance where they banged on the door and shouted, "Eric Holder, come on out!"''

BofA, JPMorgan Chase Say They've Fulfilled National Mortgage Settlement Obligations: Report

Thu, 23 May 2013 04:09:39 GMT

``BofA and JPMorgan's assertions that they've fulfilled their obligations under the settlement aren't official, as Joseph Smith, the monitor for the deal, hasn't reviewed them yet, according to the LA Times. Wells Fargo also claims to be 90 percent of the way done fulfilling its obligations.
The banks' claims that they've met their end of the bargain may not be enough for struggling homeowners as countless criticisms have arose in the wake of the settlement. ''

Mortgage Settlement Yields $50B of "Aid"; But Not All Aid Dollars Equal

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:41:10 GMT

The latest figures shifted that equation, with the banks more often giving homeowners principal or interest reductions on their loans or refinancing them into new loans, enabling them to stay in their homes. Those benefits totaled $29.2 billion to 387,420 homeowners since the program began in March 2012, according to Smith's tally of the bank reports.
By comparison, aid in the form of short sales totaled $20.1 billion to about 175,000 borrowers.

One prominent critic, Kevin Stein of the California Reinvestment Coalition, said the assistance still involved too little reduction of first-mortgage balances -- the action, he said, that was "meant to be the heart of the agreement."

In California, Stein said, relief skewed too heavily toward short sales and writing off second liens -- delinquent credit lines and second mortgages that would be worth little or nothing if an underwater home went through foreclosure.

Stein gave Bank of America, which is required to deliver by far the most assistance to borrowers, good marks during the latest quarter, saying its assistance was delivered almost entirely by reducing principal on first mortgages.

Wells Fargo, by contrast, continued to use short sales heavily, Stein said. It dispensed aid about equally through short sales and principal reductions, he said.

EU Committee Approves Bail-In Law

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:06:16 GMT

``On Monday, a group of European lawmakers in the house's economics committee voted that, from 2016, large depositors in the European Union might suffer losses if a bank gets into serious trouble, echoing a deal in Cyprus where wealthy depositors were hit hard at two banks to save the country from bankruptcy.''

Richard Russell on the Bizarre Market; Crude Manipulations

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:45:40 GMT

``I've never seen so much money being sloshed about. Nor have I ever seen so much news of corruption and criminal activity.... I think the gold miners will fly once gold gets over 1500. This crunch job on gold is the crudest manipulation job I've ever seen.''

Ron Rosen - Silver To Soar A Stunning 400% & Gold $1,500 In 10 Months

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:38:08 GMT

``So we've hit the bottom and now we are headed higher, and there is no limit as to how high gold and silver can go from here. Looking back, this will be seen as the greatest opportunity of all if someone has the guts to get in the market now...'' -- I'm not sure how he is so confident the cartel couldn't find another way to suppress the metals for another year, but submitted for your consideration anyways...

Blockbuster in Gold - Ted Butler

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:27:41 GMT

I believe that the big buyer of the 10 million ounces of gold liquidated in the GLD was JPMorgan, either alone or with other collusive commercial banks... by having the gold redeemed out of the trust and the metal being purchased (instead of shares), stock reporting requirements are evaded. A single holder, perhaps working with a few collusive partners, have come to own what is, effectively, almost a quarter of the world's largest gold stockpile and no one is the wiser.
...
When you include what came out of the ETFs and exchange warehouses it adds an additional 15 million ounces. Together that totals 30 million ounces ($45 billion). Options and over-the-counter derivatives transactions could double that amount. This likely brings the total of their purchases to 50 million ounces ($75 billion). This sound like a huge number but it's quite manageable for these big banks and it represents a small fraction of the total derivatives market.
...
If, as I contend, JPMorgan picked up at least 20 million gold ounces they shook out from the GLD and elsewhere, a $300 dollar gold rally will net them $6 billion in ill-gotten gains on that position alone. It could be much more if they are more ruthless in creating higher prices. Generally, with these crooks they usually exceed what you think they are capable of.

Updated Consumer Relief - The Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight

Wed, 22 May 2013 05:14:27 GMT

``"Since the Settlement was announced, I have released three prior progress reports that detailed the banks' self-reported consumer relief data on a quarterly basis," said Smith. "I believe it is important to continue to share this data with the public, and, accordingly have done so on my website. However, I have not prepared a full report on this data because I am focusing my time testing the banks' year end consumer relief claims and giving them appropriate credit as outlined in the Settlement. This allows me to provide the public with credited reports as soon as possible. "The four banks that have not yet been credited have requested that I determine their consumer relief progress through the end of 2012," said Smith. "I will release my review of their work in the coming weeks to the Court and the public. At that time, I look forward to engaging in a public conversation about their progress."''

Monitor Checking Into Violations of Mortgage Settlement

Wed, 22 May 2013 05:13:40 GMT

``The announcement that Smith is looking into potential violations comes a week after New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he would sue BofA and Wells over complaints they did not provide fair and timely service to homeowners seeking relief.
Smith and others attorneys general have been looking into the same issues. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said Tuesday her office found "an alarming pattern of potential violations of ‘servicing standards.'" For example, she said that in 60% of files surveyed, banks failed to notify borrowers within five days of missing documents in their applications.''

Jamie Dimon Survives Shareholder Vote

Wed, 22 May 2013 05:11:57 GMT

``The vote was seen as a test of shareholder power over the operations of large financial institutions. Dimon, the longest-serving chief executive at one of the nation's six largest banks, worked feverishly with his key lieutenants to defeat the proposal -- pointing to the company's profitable track record, its stock price, leading market share in financial services and Dimon's experience in steering the company through the financial crisis.''

Washington Signals Deep Dollar Concerns -- Paul Craig Roberts

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:26:04 GMT

``What does this illegal manipulation of markets by the Federal Reserve tell us? It tells us that the Federal Reserve sees no way out of printing money in order to support the federal deficit and the insolvent banks. If the dollar came under attack and the Federal Reserve had to stop printing dollars, interest rates would rise. The bond and stock markets would collapse. The dollar would be abandoned as reserve currency. Washington would no longer be able to pay its bills and would lose its hegemony. The world of hubristic Washington would collapse. ''

This Time, Gold Bugs May Have a Point - Barron's

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:15:42 GMT

``These improbable moves have made gold bugs suspicious, which isn't unusual... They point to bursts of selling on Friday, April 12, which resulted in prices plunging by more than 5%, and to dumping that resumed the following Monday in Asia, early in the day when markets are illiquid. That culminated in a 9% collapse by the time the New York market had settled. But a seller who wanted to unload a large position at the optimal price would have done precisely the opposite--liquidate as discreetly as possible. Instead, sellers dumped the equivalent of more than 300 tons of the metal in staccato-like blasts during those sessions.''

Rickards: Bernanke Has No Exit Plan

Tue, 21 May 2013 14:57:50 GMT

``"There's a good possibility I may never see another rate hike in my lifetime," says Rickards.''

Federal COA Rulings Could Make 5 Years Of Non-Judicial Fannie/Freddie Foreclosures Unconstitutional

Tue, 21 May 2013 14:52:09 GMT

2 Federal Appellate Courts have ruled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government entities and the ruling could create a constitutional crisis in non-judicial foreclosure states.