Unstructured Finance

By Katya Wachtel

Yes, Germany and Greece have been in a war of words in the unfolding crisis over the latter’s membership in the euro zone, but this afternoon the two nations face off in a different (and far more entertaining) way: they go head-to-head in the European Championship quarterfinal.

As Reuters’ Alexander Hudson reports from Poland, the setting of tonight’s more-than-just-a-game battle, “When Greece take the football field in the Polish coastal city of Gdansk… the honor of the nation is at stake.” Greece, by the way, has never beaten Germany on the soccer pitch.

Closer to home, with the NBA season now officially over – congrats to our Miami Heat fans – there’s a little more time for some weekend reading…

From New York Magazine:

Cleary Gottlieb attorney Lee Buchheit has the cure for debt-laden Greece, Spain and Italy, writes Jessica Pressler.

From Dealbook:

Is lying different from stealing in matters of securities fraud, Steven Davidoff asks in his column, comparing the crimes of Enron’s Jeffrey Skilling with those of convicted insider traders Rajaratnam and Gupta.

By Matthew Goldstein

A controversial idea of using the power of eminent domain to seize underwater mortgages may hurt some of the nation’s biggest banks more than investors in mortgage-backed securities.

The reason is the process of condemning a mortgage in which a borrower owes more money than their homes are worth will likely result in a seizure of any home equity loan–or second lien–on that property as well. And that could spell trouble for many U.S. banks, which at the end of the first quarter had $700 billion in second liens on their books, according to SNL Financial.

The trouble is that analysts say many banks have not adequately reserved against losses on those second liens or taken write-downs to reflect the impairment in value on the underlying mortgages. So an outright seizure of those second liens by a local governments could result in unexpected losses for the banks.

By Katya Wachtel

On Sunday, voters in Greece’s parliamentary election gave market-watchers the result they wanted.

But in the minds of many money managers, those election results are little more than a band-aid for the euro zone’s deep and complex debt problems, and their attention is focused further West. Many hedge fund managers say it is Spain – the euro zone’s fourth largest economy and the recent recipient of a 100 billion euro bank bailout – that is the real concern for the stability global financial markets.

“Greece has been off the radar screen since March as far as I am concerned,” said Robert Koenigsberger, founder and chief investment officer at $3.2 billion investment manager Gramercy. “When everyone went to bed on Sunday night, I doubt they were expecting to wake up and find that Spain would be 25 basis points wider. People probably thought there would be a risk-on trade that could give Spain some relief.”

By Matthew Goldstein and Jennifer Ablan

Fears of rising interest rates  may be overstated, especially if federal regulators push ahead with plans to have a good chunk of derivatives traded through organized clearing houses.

Todd Petzel, chief investment officer for Offit Capital, which manages $6 billion for wealthy investors, argues that the need for traders to post collateral for derivatives contracts traded with clearing houses could provide a new buyer for all the Treasuries the Fed will print to fund the U.S. government deficit and help spur the economy.

In other words, a new source of buyer for Treasuries will emerge.

In a recent letter to Offit’s clients, Petzel says moving derivatives onto clearing house platforms “should reduce systemic risk.” But the move could have the “unintended” effect of creating a new buyer for Treasuries because right now collateral postings in most derivatives trades is irregular and n0t always required at the outset of a transaction.

So there’s this election this Sunday in Greece and everyone–who follows the markets–is all excited. But at the end of the day, the main reason people in the markets are all up in arms is because they want to know who will get paid, in what order and most important–how much. Sadly, there’s too little focus on whether the right people/institutions are getting paid; let alone issues of social dignity and the quality of human existence. Guess that’s what the markets are all about, right?

But don’t let any of that stop you from saying thanks to your dad tomorrow. And for all of you dads out there—A Happy Father’s Day. Here then is Sam Forgione’s weekend reads:

From The New Republic:

Dierdre N. McCloskey spans the efforts of economists to gauge happiness.

From Foreign Affairs:

Layna Mosley offers a level analysis of euro zone government debt and how markets view it.

Matthew Goldstein and Jennifer Ablan

The idea of using eminent domain to help out homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages isn’t necessarily a new one.

Two years ago, a group of congressional leaders led by Rep. Brad Miller of North Carolina wrote to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner recommending that the federal government consider buying underwater mortgages to stem the flood of home foreclosures. The Democratic congressman got two dozen of his colleagues to sign onto the proposal, which Geithner gave a pretty cool response to.

In a May 7, 2010 letter to the U.S. lawmakers, Geithner said the proposal had too many hurdles to be seriously considered. The Treasury secretary said eminent domain is a “complex and lengthy” proceeding. And he worried about the difficulty of  buying “mortgages out of the trusts and other securitization vehicles that own and control a substantial share of mortgage debt.”

Here’s to getting out exclusive stories fast when need be. This week, pay close attention to Jamie Dimon, who will be on the congressional hot seat as he deals with questions over JPM’s $2 billion plus trading loss. And without further ado, here’s Sam Forgione’s weekend reads:

From Fortune:

Peter Elkind and Doris Burke add more arc to the “human drama” of MF Global’s collapse.

From The New York Times:

Ron Lieber has some tips to resolve the fear of falling behind on finances.

From Institutional Investor:

JP MorganChase’s trading loss could signal big changes for investment banks, writes Charles Wallace.

By Matthew Goldstein and Jennifer Ablan

You gotta give credit to O. Mason Hawkins and Carl Icahn, the unlikely partnership that managed to get some important concessions from Chesapeake Energy Corp., the embattled natural gas company. But when it comes to public pensions that also own stock in Chesapeake, it’s a far different story.

The head of Southeastern Asset Management and the billionaire activist trader came together to get Chesapeake to agree to shake-up its board and allow the pair to name four new independent directors on the company’s nine-member board. And for the most part, Hawkins and Icahn managed to wrest that change from Chesapeake without much help from public pensions that own shares in the Oklahoma-based company.

The move is an attempt by Chesapeake to deal with criticism shareholder anger that company long has been to forgiving to the wheeling-and-dealing of its chief executive Aubrey McClendon.

By Jennifer Ablan and Matthew Goldstein

It is small wonder mom-and-pop investors are showing no love for U.S. stocks for a fourth consecutive year.

Not only has the U.S. economic recovery remained fragile, but the so-called “headline risk” is dominating investor psyche again.

On Monday,  the Dow Jones Industrials Average extended its “June Swoon” ending flattish after being down for most of the day, after Reuters reported that finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations will hold a conference call on Tuesday morning amid increased concern about the European debt crisis.

A beautiful summer day in the New York area and the jinx is broken. What jinx, you ask? Well if you’re a long suffering Mets fan you know what I mean–finally a no-hitter. #LETSGOMETS! Oh and yes, here is Sam Forgione’s latest edition of weekend reads. Also don’t forget to follow Sam on Twitter @samuelforgione

From The Atlantic:

William D. Cohan challenges popular beliefs on the cause of the 2008 financial crisis.

From BusinessWeek:

ETFs are becoming increasingly risky to retail investors, Christopher Condon writes.