Ron Peltier is leading Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A)’s real-estate brokerage believes that the recent $25 billion settlement between the big banks and state and federal authorities is likely to lead to a large increase in home sales.  Inventory is down and part of the reason why is that the turmoil over servicing has forced the...Read More

Wells Fargo (WFC) today released very encouraging earnings numbers today including increasing net interest margins, and strong profits led by mortgage refinancing.  The environment is getting better for these large banks and Wells Fargo certainly has the least volatile business structure due to their more vanilla and transparent business model.  It’s interesting to see bank...Read More

For those of you that are looking to buy a home that you plan on living in for a while now is the time to buy!  Prices are affordable and interest rates are unbelievably cheap.  Even if prices go down a little further, with rates this low on a 30 year mortgage it is hard...Read More

Alfredo Saenz is exactly right that the ECB needs to get in front of the issue and buy Spanish debt as yields climb.  As stated before this won’t solve the structural problems but neither will delaying the issue.  Policymakers have continuously waited for the market to force them to make a move instead of taking...Read More

Mortgage servicing problems and mortgage fraud have had a dramatic change in the industry.  The automated machinery to approve as many loans as possible on the basis that the collateral will keep the issuers protected is over after the huge declines that we have seen in housing prices.  While changes had to be made in...Read More

One area of lending that is looking particularly risky right now is student lending.  The costs of education have increased dramatically, and students are bearing the brunt of these huge debt loads in an economy that is not flush with high paying jobs for recent graduates.  Just as healthcare costs are a concern for our...Read More

This was a really interesting article discussing the pending execution of a 30 year old Chinese woman for fraud charges.  I’ll let you come to your own moral conclusions as it hits on many levels, but it is certainly an informative perspective into the Chinese judicial system. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-10/shadow-banks-on-trial-as-china-s-rich-sister-faces-death.html INVESTING IN THE FINANCIAL MARKETS INVOLVES RISKS....Read More

This was a great article on the new CEO of Research in Motion Thorsten Heins.  The key takeaways for RIMM is that they compete in a fast growing market and have a strong and loyal subscriber base.  The company has endured several misfires but the stock price implies a drastic decline in both revenue and...Read More

AOL is up big this morning off of the news that they sold about 800 patents to Microsoft for over $1 billion.  This is a tremendous monetization of assets for AOL and will likely lead towards a special dividend for shareholders.  While you may have missed the opportunity in AOL I think the best investment...Read More

With interest rates so low and banks becoming more willing to lend money to corporations at least, I’d expect to see more deals like this recent acquisition of Great Wolf Resorts (WOLF) by Apollo Global Management.  I’d expect Apollo to cut the company’s SG&A expenses which seem a bit high, and to milk the cash...Read More