I just got the inside word that one of these banks that I am already short:
Bank of America, HSBC, Wachovia, FirstFed, Wells Fargo
...has senior management pounding the table to increase its Home Equity Loan portfolio.
They are trying to UP the compensation to brokers to sell more HELOC products.
Hard to believe, isn't it.
Reminder - Housing is in the sewer AND it's still unaffordable; we're in the first inning of a recession; and mortgage rates can only rise from here. HELOCs, due to their secondary lien status, are trading at pennies on the dollar. Thus they can't be easily pooled, securitized and sloughed off onto investors - banks will have to hold them on their books indefinitely.
Admittedly I don't fully understand the banking business. But to me, it seems as boneheaded as the homebuilding biz. Just as Moronic builders like Ara Hovnanian won't EVER stop building - no matter that the US housing market is already over-supplied by 3.5 million homes - banks seemingly won't ever stop underwriting new loans. They mistakenly think merely slowing loan growth and raising lending standards constitutes a defensive posture. They are wrong - it's time to batten down the hatches.
If we can borrow a somewhat apropos expression from the Big Government solutions manual:
Remember, you're a hammer...so every problem is a nail.
Their reckless pursuit of growth is what got them in trouble in the first place.
3 comments:
I can say with reasonable certainty, it is not FED - hahaha. Those clowns.
I ran across this post while I was looking for information on the current bailout. It seems that secondary mortgages are going to be more strongly addressed in this plan compared to the last one.
I wonder if what you were able to get any more information regarding this rumor.
http://www.bergenjerseyforeclosures.com/blog/info/entry/700_billion_bailout_not_likely
Here's a link to the post to make it easier to get to
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