Looking around.

In no particular order:

1. So While Every Bank Is Defending PrimeX, Here Is What Fannie Mae Really Thinks
   Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/18/2011 21:46 -0400
   
   Remember when it was your job to be cheerful and optimistic if creating forecasts for insolvent and nationalized entities, whose entire pseudo-business model is predicated upon the return of the housing bubble and the overall Ponzi resuming? Apparently not, especially if one has read the following forecast from none other than Fannie Mae. So while we have Barclays, Deutsche, JPM, TCW, and any other axed bank , you name it, defending PrimeX which is nothing more or less than a bet on the "safe" tranche of US home price prospects and housing overall, here is the one entity with more mortgages on its books than any other organization, telling us how it really feels.
   
   Summary:
   

   • Projecting 10yr treasuries to plunge to 1.90% by 4Q11
   • Median New / Existing home prices will fall 7.1% / 7.7% respectively by mid 2012
   • Purchase Mortgage Origination will decline 21.5% from 2Q11 levels
   • Total Single family mortgage debt will decline 3.0% by 4Q12
   • First Lien single family mortgage debt will decline 2.3%
   • The imputed (based on reported first lien & total) 2nd lien mortgage debt will plunge 10.2% vs. 2Q11 levels (hmm why W
   • Would somebody with a first lien allow a junior creditor to get paid off first?)

2. Is It Time To Close Down Bank of America?
   
   This is precisely the sort of arbitrage that ought to lead people straight to a nice date with Bubba:
   

   Bank of America Corp. (BAC), hit by a credit downgrade last month, has moved derivatives from its Merrill Lynch unit to a subsidiary flush with insured deposits, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation.
   
   The Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. disagree over the transfers, which are being requested by counterparties, said the people, who asked to remain anonymous because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. The Fed has signaled that it favors moving the derivatives to give relief to the bank holding company, while the FDIC, which would have to pay off depositors in the event of a bank failure, is objecting, said the people. The bank doesn’t believe regulatory approval is needed, said people with knowledge of its position.

3. Discovering What Facebook Knows About You
   
   Things are getting interesting in Europe:
   

   Max is a 24 year old law student from Vienna with a flair for the interview and plenty of smarts about both technology and legal issues. In Europe there is a requirement that entities with data about individuals make it available to them if they request it. That's how Max ended up with a personalized CD from Facebook that he printed out on a stack of paper more than a thousand pages thick (see image below). Analysing it, he came to the conclusion that Facebook is engineered to break many of the requirements of European data protection. ...

4. US forces 'massing on Afghanistan-Pakistan border'
   US forces are massing on the Pakistan border in eastern Afghanistan amid reports of an imminent drone missile offensive against fighters from the feared Haqqani Network, a Taliban faction which operates from safe havens in Pakistan's North Waziristan Agency, Pakistan Army sources have confirmed.
   
   By Dean Nelson, South Asia Editor and Javed Siddiq in Islamabad
   2:19PM BST 18 Oct 2011
   
   The scale of the American build-up, including helicopter gunships, heavy artillery and hundreds of American and Afghan troops, caused panic in north Waziristan where tribal militias who feared they could be targeted gathered in the capital Miranshah to coordinate their response.

5. FBI Monitoring News Talk Radio for Investigations
   
   Mark Weaver
   WMAL.com
   
   WASHINGTON -- If you call a radio talk show and get on the air, you might be recorded by the FBI.
   
   The FBI has awarded a $524,927 contract to a Virginia company to record as much radio news and talk programming as it can find on the Internet.
   
   The FBI says it is not playing big brother by policing the airwaves, but rather seeking access to what airs as potential evidence.
   
   "This doesn't give us any enhanced capability, prying into or any 'big brother' concerns because this is information that's being put out on the airwaves," FBI spokesman Paul Bresson told WMAL.com. "Its very important to our investigators to know what's being reported."
   
   Bresson cites as an example of the case of the Times Square bomber.
   
   "It's ideal for cases like that because we can extract information that's already been reported and help our investigators make better decisions."

All of this is not good or enjoyable news and there is so much more out there, but there are bright spots- such as this:



Those who frequent here know full well that I fully expect all of this to come crashing down- HARD. We are broke, our "leaders" corrupt with many submitting or calling for treason; demanding that we further embrace socialism/communism. That elections do not matter and should be halted. Others dismiss their citizens- acting as potentates and kings who send out Jack-Booted Thugs to harass, intimidate and even kill. This is why it does not matter this mans politics he is standing up for what is right AND honorable- with the outcome of 30 cops nearly pissing themselves.

How many more are ready and will join him across the Republic?

WP