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from Rolfe Winkler:
Lunchtime Links 1-19
MUST READ -- Souring mortgages, weak market put FHA on tightrope (Timiraos, WSJ) Good article, though Timiraos doesn't address the absurd circularity perpetuated by FHA Chief David Stevens when Stevens says, on the one hand, that more gov't lending protects the housing market from further declines, while simultaneously arguing that such lending isn't sustainable. That said, Timiraos has worked lots of interesting stuff into this piece, especially towards the end. For instance, in late '07 investors were refinancing at-risk borrowers into FHA loans in order to shift risk to taxpayers. Barney Frank defends permanently raising FHA maximum loans for certain geographies to $729k. Also lots of data about how badly FHA loans are performing.
Citi's Q4 earnings: Not terrible but not great (Wilchins, Reuters) Trading revenues in the investment bank were much weaker compared to last quarter. Citi also benefited from a tax break, without which they wouldn't have met consensus estimates for the quarter. Here's a helpful chart.
(Click here to enlarge in new window)
How the French outplayed AIG and the Fed (Berman, WSJ...subscription req'd) Great column. Goldman gets all the bad press, but it was far from the only bank that got 100¢ on the dollar for derivative contracts with AIG...
Too big to fail is here to stay (Salmon, Reuters) Felix does a great takedown of Andrew Ross Sorkin's latest column.
D.Telekom JV could jump Sprint hurdles
Deutsche Telekom is struggling in two of its most important international markets and desperately needs to find a quick fix. Its proposed joint venture with France Telecom is a graceful way to establish a leading position in the UK market. But buying Sprint Nextel in the United States looks far less sensible.
A takeover of its rival would catapult Deutsche Telekom past AT&T and Verizon to U.S. number one position. However, the deal looks a costly way to get its operations there growing again. Talk of a bid for Sprint Nextel by T-Mobile USA — the business Deutsche Telekom acquired when it bought VoiceStream in 2000 — is hardly new.
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The Wall
