by rchrisman@robchrisman.com
(Warning: Rated PG, I guess.
Thanks to Nick S. for this one.)
A firefighter was working on
the engine outside the station when he noticed a little girl nearby in a little
red wagon with little ladders hung off the sides and a garden hose tightly
coiled in the middle.
The girl was wearing a firefighter's helmet. The wagon was being pulled by her dog and her cat.
The firefighter walked over to take a closer look.
"That sure is a nice fire truck," the firefighter said with admiration.
"Thanks," the girl replied.
The girl was wearing a firefighter's helmet. The wagon was being pulled by her dog and her cat.
The firefighter walked over to take a closer look.
"That sure is a nice fire truck," the firefighter said with admiration.
"Thanks," the girl replied.
The firefighter looked a little
closer. The girl had tied the wagon to her dog's collar and to the cat's
testicles.
"Little partner," the firefighter said, "I don't want to tell you how to run your rig, but if you were to tie that rope around the cat's collar, I think you could go faster."
The little girl replied thoughtfully, "You're probably right, but then I wouldn't have a siren."
"Little partner," the firefighter said, "I don't want to tell you how to run your rig, but if you were to tie that rope around the cat's collar, I think you could go faster."
The little girl replied thoughtfully, "You're probably right, but then I wouldn't have a siren."
Bank news
"Bigger is better"
with some things, right? For those that think it applies to banks, and for
those who like lists, S&P Global Market Intelligence finds the largest US
banks by assets as of the end of Q1 in order were: JPMorgan ($2.55T); Bank of
America ($2.24T); Wells Fargo ($1.95T), Citigroup ($1.82T), US Bancorp ($450B);
PNC ($371B), TD Group ($371B), Capital One ($349B), Bank of New York Mellon
($338B), and HSBC North America ($295B).
People's Intermountain Bank
($1.7B, UT) will acquire Town & Country Bank ($135mm, UT) for about $20.9mm
in cash (35%) and stock (65%). Doolin Security Savings Bank ($48mm, OH) will
combine with Belpre Savings Bank ($48mm, WV) in a merger of equals. In nearby
Indiana Horizon Bank ($3.2B) will acquire Lafayette Community Bank ($172mm) for
about $32mm in cash (10%) and stock (90%) or about 1.66x tangible book. And
banks don't only have to buy banks, right? Peapack-Gladstone Bank ($4.0B, NJ)
will acquire asset manager Murphy Capital Management Inc. (NJ) with its $850mm
in assets under management.
Things aren't always rosy of
course. Regulators closed Fayette County Bank ($34mm, IL) and sold it to United
Fidelity Bank ($574mm, IN) under a purchase and assumption agreement. (United
picks up one branch, all the deposits, and about 84% of the assets.)
Banks are where the money is...
but what if you don't have much? SmartAsset did a study that considered
affordability and livability factors to find the best cities for people who earn the U.S. median salary of
$55,000.
Legal update
Clem Ziroli Jr., President of
First Mortgage Corporation, reports that on May 18, 2017 attorneys for the
corporation argued in U.S. District Court proceedings in Minnesota that claims
by the RESCAP Liquidating Trust for $24.5M should be mostly dismissed, and that
the remaining claims were overstated by 90%. RESCAP is the successor to the
bankrupt unit of General Motors Acceptance Corporation's RFC, which was a
dominant figure in the 2008 financial meltdown.
"RESCAP lodged claims of
breach of warranty and representation at loan origination for loans dating back
to 1999. First Mortgage argued that all claims for 93 of 169 loans should be
dismissed for being brought after a 6-year Statute of Limitations had passed.
First Mortgage also argued that all claims for another 46 loans should be
dismissed because the damages claimed were actually caused by a superseding
cause such as RFC voluntarily agreeing to a short sale or a loan modification.
Then, First Mortgage also argued that RFC's actions to elect to do non-judicial
foreclosure for 45 loans was a further basis for dismissing all but 6 of the
169 loans.
"Then, with respect to
RESCAP's $1.4M claims for those last 6 loans, First Mortgage argued that
RESCAP's claims were overstated by 90%, relying upon an August 2014 decision
from the same courthouse about the same dispute against another RESCAP
defendant which said,
'In May 2012, RFC declared
bankruptcy in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The
dozens of lawsuits against RFC involved a balance of more than $100 billion in
original loan principal. And because RFC extended a promise to repurchase
faulty loans and investments as part of its offerings, RFC had already spent
millions of dollars repurchasing investments and loans. After RFC declared
bankruptcy, investors and other interested parties filed hundreds of proofs of
claim. Ultimately, the bankruptcy court approved a global settlement of over
$10 billion to resolve the claims against RFC. The settlement assigned the
rights and interests of RFC to the ResCap Liquidating Trust.'
"The judge said First
Mortgage may file its motions together with similar motions by the other RESCAP
defendants, but must wait for expert discovery to be completed. That may be as
early as Thanksgiving. First Mortgage is committed to continuing this fight."
The Office of the Comptroller
of the Currency(OCC) issued Bulletin 2017-18: Violations of Laws and
Regulations. The updated policy and procedures are effective on July 1,
2017 and apply to examinations of all national banks, federal savings
associations, and federal branches and agencies. With these changes, the OCC aims to increase the
effectiveness of its process for handling violations of laws and regulations.
The updated policies and procedures provide the OCC with guidelines on
consistent terminology, communication, format, follow-up, analysis, documentation,
and reporting of violations.
Capital markets
Despite the arguably weak
payroll number, the Fed Funds futures market (a way of gauging what all the
smart folks think the probability is) increased their probability of a June
hike to 93%. The 10 year continues to rally, and we are at the lowest
yields since early November. The Trump "reflation trade" - $1
trillion on infrastructure plus tax breaks - continues to deflate, at least as
far as bonds are concerned.
Friday, after the employment data,
we had a nice treasury rally following the weaker than expected payrolls report
as the 10-year note led the market higher, price-wise, and rates dropped with
the 10-year yield dropping to 2.14%. (If employment is not strong, inflation is
not an issue, so rates shouldn't go up, right?) And so on Friday the 10-year
note price improved .5 and closed with a yield of 2.16% whereas the 5-year and
agency MBS prices improved about .250 depending on coupon and maturity.
But it's a new week as we head
into June. From overseas, scheduled news-wise, are two central bank decisions
on Tuesday and Thursday. Also on Thursday is the UK general election - another
election to talk about! Skipping over today (see next paragraph), tomorrow
we'll have the JOLTS job openings figure, Wednesday is the MBA apps data from
last week, Thursday is initial jobless claims, and Friday the 9th
is...not much.
This morning isn't
much either. We've had some 2nd tier productivity (unchanged in 1st
quarter) and unit labor costs (+2.2%). Coming up later are some factory-orders
numbers and ISM numbers. We launch the week with rates a smidge higher
versus Friday's closing levels. As a proxy for rates in general, the 10-year's
yield is 2.18% and agency MBS prices are worse nearly .125.
Its actually 73 months from the time he when in plus 30 days of good time that equals 74 months. calculate how much house i can afford
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