Monday, November 17, 2008

How the Investment Banks Fell via the Secondary Mortgage Market

"Long Beach Financial was moving money out the door as fast as it could, few questions asked, in loans built to self-destruct. It specialized in asking home­owners with bad credit and no proof of income to put no money down and defer interest payments for as long as possible. In Bakersfield, California, a Mexican strawberry picker with an income of $14,000 and no English was lent every penny he needed to buy a house for $720,000.
...<snip>...
"“With all due respect, sir,” Daniel told the C.E.O. deferentially as they left the meeting, “you’re delusional.” This wasn’t Fitch or even S&P. This was Moody’s, the aristocrats of the rating business, 20 percent owned by Warren Buffett. And the company’s C.E.O. was being told he was either a fool or a crook by one Vincent Daniel, from Queens."

The End of Wall Street's Boom - National Business News - Portfolio.com

If you want to understand what happened on Wall Street in the past few years, read this article. It is long, but very good. What's most disturbing about it is that as you're reading it, you realize that our tax money is going to bailout these corrupt people, and their insanely greedy and irresponsible behavior. How the f*ck did we get talked into giving them their money back? They deserve to lose it.

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