Classifying Investment Cash Flows: Much To Do About Nothing
September 22, 2006
Where Accounting Meets Language | online.wsj.com
How should returns from investments be reported in a statement of cash flows? Does it really matter if dividends are reported as investing activities rather than operating activities? This commentary provides investment analysts with insights on how investment returns should be viewed when evaluating cash flows.
Will Aether’s Tax Loss Assets “Ever” Be Realized?
September 22, 2006
Aether Tax-Loss Assets May Not Carry Forward | online.wsj.com
A common financial “urban legend” is the idea that tax net operating losses generated by one company can be “purchased” and used by another entity to reduce future tax liabilities. Unfortunately, in most cases, this simply is not the case. This commentary debunks this legend and provides insight into Aether Holdings’ tax loss position.
Merrill joins the quest to benefit from the rumoured housing bust
September 7, 2006
Merrill Lynch to Buy National City's Mortgage Unit | www.bloomberg.com
This article is important because it announces the fourth investment bank to acquire a residential mortgage originator/servicer in the past few months. Deutsche Bank, Barclays and Morgan Stanley all beat Merrill to the punch, having previously announced their intended acquisitions.
Recently released economic data and reports of residential lenders increasing their loan loss reserves have caused the media to hail the arrival of the long-predicted housing bust. Analysts at major investment banking firms have concurred that it is time to get out of mortgages, which makes one wonder, why aren’t these firms taking their own advice?
Fundamentals Matter - So Does Diligence
August 23, 2006
Morgan Stanley to Buy Saxon Capital | biz.yahoo.com
Help or Hurt Morgan Stanley? - Have to Look at Saxon First
Does It Matter? Incremental Volume and Revenue May Be Small
Cost and Benefit of the Saxon Purchase versus Existing Origination Costs
Morgan Stanley Makes Key Investment to Support MBS Business
August 15, 2006
Morgan Stanley to Buy Saxon Capital | biz.yahoo.com
Morgan Stanley’s recently announced acquisition of Saxon says more about its belief in the US mbs market than any analyst report could possibly say.
After a year to date deluge of data allegedly projecting the bursting of the US housing bubble and the consequent demise of the US mortgage market, the fact that a major Wall Street firm that isn’t Bear Stearns or Lehman Brothers (and therefore doesn’t already have a huge mortgage book it needs to protect) is making a bet that the US mbs market will prevail is bullet-proof evidence that it will.
Wizard Takes On the Banks of Oz
August 15, 2006
Wizard applies for banking licence | www.theage.com.au
This article is relevant to all interested in the relatively mature Australian consumer finance market and the high-growth potential for consumer finance in the emerging markets.
With respect to the Australian Market: GE Money, the owner of Wizard Home Loans, is well known for their focus. They limit their entry into areas where they can dominate, i.e. become number 1 or 2 in the market.
With respect to the Emerging Markets: In addition to describing Wizard Home Loan’s application for an Australian Banking License, this article also refers to an announcement by GE Money’s CEO that Wizard International, will begin operations this year. Wizard International’s three principal investors are Mark Bouris (the founder of Wizard Home Loan) GE Money and private investor, Consolidated Press Holdings. It’s first market? India.
Title Insurance -Is it worth it?
August 2, 2006
Oxley requests GAO title insurance investigation | fpn.advisen.com
This announcement of Rep. Oxley's request is important, since it calls attention to a little understood service that adds to the non-interest costs of mortgage originations.
As competition for mortgages continues to increase, lenders are focused on maintaining growth and revenues by either a) passing on the price of associated service providers, such as title insurers or property appraisers at above market costs or b)requiring borrowers to obtain such services when they may not be necessary, such as when the mortgage is a refinancing of a loan originated less than a year ago.
Slow and Steady is Proper Approach in Current Environment
August 2, 2006
Mortgage slowdown hits GoldenWest | biz.yahoo.com
This Yahoo Finance Article highlights Golden West's recent slow down in the growth of mortgage originations and the shrinkage of deposits. While such a deceleration in Golden West's asset generation and funding sources could call into question Wachovia's wisdom in acquiring this thrift, it can also be interpreted as evidence of Golden West's considerable experience with similar market conditions in the past.
The use of servicing to maintain strong NIM income
August 1, 2006
Slowdown? Not at Wells Fargo | mortgageservicingnews.com
This article describing the growth of Wells Fargo's servicing portfolio is a good illustration of one alternative dominant US lenders can use to maintain earnings in a declining market.
Equity investors, in particular, should read this article as it clearly describes Wells' strategy and how it is implemented. It can be used as a basis for which to compare Wells to similar lenders for purposes of evaluating their plans for protecting NIM income during the projected market downturn.
Economic Data Contradicts Abelson's Prediction of Housing Bust
June 26, 2006
This article contains a selective synopsis of data supporting Mr. Abelson's dire prediction of a housing bust. Among the scary statistics included in the article are:
-US$1trillion of mortgages are hybrid ARMs currently in their fixed period and are set to changeover into their floating rates this year.
-In addition, the article contains information regarding the amount of equity US homeowners currently have and Mr. Abelson's predictions as to how such equity will diminish if current home prices continue to drop.
-Finally, Mr Abelson gleefully hypothesizes about a limitless downside, once all of these borrowers realize that they cannot afford their new ARM payments and can't sell their houses due to the amount of their negative equity.
If your boss hasn't read this article already, she is either on vacation or reading it now -you'll need to prepare an impassioned response to reassure her that Alan must be looking at a Florida vacation home ..... since the recently announced new home sale numbers directly contradicts his column's bashing of the US real estate market.
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