Let's skip ahead to Aug. 3. The debt ceiling hasn't moved an inch and the United States no longer enjoys a coveted triple-A credit rating. Now what?

The slowly reviving CLO market is getting a boost from an unexpected source: one of the biggest financial blowups in history.

The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing next Thursday on the nomination of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) received many comment letters strongly criticizing its May 26 preemption proposal. Unfortunately, the OCC largely ignored those criticisms and wrote final rules that blatantly violate the Dodd-Frank Act.

The heads of CMBS trading at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs departed this week according to a Bloomberg report.

U.S. senior fixed-income investors are taking a more conservative view of cross asset credit conditions on the back of recent macroeconomic concerns, according to a Fitch Ratings fixed-income forum survey of fixed income professionals, conducted in June.

Ocwen Financial Corp. is again helping itself financially by cutting distressed homeowners an unusual break.

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) has added new foreclosure guidelines to its two existing manuals, according to a MERS press release.

An index that gives insight into future home sales rose 2.4% in June after jumping 8.2% in May, a sign that not all consumers are spooked by the housing market.

A Texas investment firm has launched a new fund to invest in subordinated debt and take mezzanine stakes in what it calls “carefully selected” mortgage banking firms.

U.K. mortgage lender Paragon said preparations for its next securitization deal are well on the way.

Freddie Mac reported 30-year fixed mortgage rates rose three basis points to 4.55% with an average 0.8 point for the week ending July 28.