Bernanke's Childhood Home Foreclosed On

Will examine debacle's effect on real-estate market

(AP) - Federal banking regulators are examining whether mortgage companies cut corners on their own procedures when they moved to foreclose on people's homes, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said today. "We are looking intensively at the firms' policies, procedures, and internal controls," Bernanke said. "We take violations of proper procedure very seriously." Preliminary results of the probe are expected next month. More»

It's been a bumper year for BS from the big banks, writes Nomi Prins

(NEWSER) - As Wall Street happily trots off into 2009's sunset, same old bad habits in tow, things aren't looking so hot on Main Street—no matter the crocks the bankers sold us, writes Nomi Prins at AlterNet . Here's some of Wall Street's finest whoppers of the year.

• The economy has improved. "Sure—if you work at Goldman Sachs or had an affair with Tiger Woods," writes Prins. For the rest of us, unemployment is in double digits and next year is looking bleak.

(NEWSER) - The Wall Street bailout has not failed, but it hasn’t worked yet, either, as evidenced by the renewed call from Barack Obama and the Fed to release more TARP funds, the New York Times reports. Banks that received bailout funds are clamoring for more to stabilize their finances, but the current administration and the incoming one are at odds over how to spend taxpayer money. More»

Fed chief outlines ideas for public, private sector to slow foreclosures

(NEWSER) - Ben Bernanke says more must be done to halt record US home-foreclosure rates, the New York Times reports. The Federal Reserve chief suggested several options today, including the government buying bad mortgages en masse and refinancing them through a government-insured program, and strengthening a scheme aimed at lowering homeowners’ monthly payments. More»

Analysts say US will need to be leery of truly toxic portfolios

(NEWSER) - When Treasury starts spending the $700 billion in bailout money it’s asking for, the big question is going to be how much to pay for assets that are toxic in part because no one can figure out what they're worth. The bundled and rebundled mortgage securities causing Wall Street tumult are hodgepodges of loans of varying quality, mostly low, reports the New York Times. “No two pieces of paper are the same,” says one bond portfolio manager. More»