Friday, August 24, 2007


Financial services passes 100,000 mark

That is to say, that's the number of jobs lost this year.

Mish adds that we should be on the lookout for a domino effect; many of these people have little savings cushion and will themselves have houses go into foreclosure.

Mish also warns that, so far, we’re just talking about residential real estate:

Far from being the savior that many think, commercial real estate is soon going to get crushed. It is overbuilt, overloved, and due for a collapse. If Bernanke thinks he has a problem now, watch what happens when commercial real estate blows up. Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) might be able to keep people in their houses in lieu of foreclosure by renegotiating terms down and down again (for a while anyway but certainly not forever), but bank funding of unneeded strip malls is another thing indeed.

In other words. Democratic presidential candidates, as well as Fed chief Ben Bernanke, need to have serious answers to tough economic questions.

Meanwhile, the “Implode-O-Meter” says 137 major lenders have imploded since last year.

And, rising rates on jumbo mortgages (houses above $417,000) threaten what is theoretically the most healthy part of the housing economy.