RMBS

Standard & Poor's said Tuesday that home prices fell in January for the fifth consecutive month, reaching a new low for the housing bust.

Investors who purchase distressed loans at a discount are among those in a good position to sense how problem assets might best be resolved, and one of these players believes more aggressive refis and mods and fewer government constraints on lending could help.

It is hard to deny Richard Cordray's hiring to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) nearly four months ago is a flash point in continuing debates over regulatory appointments and implementing the Dodd-Frank Act.

Analytics provider CoreLogic has a new service to assist originators identify potential loans that can fall under the Home Affordable Refinance Program 2.0 (HARP 2.0).

Volumes for non-investment grade bonds steadily increased throughout 1Q12, with three spikes happening on Jan. 19th, Feb. 8 and 28 that coincided with the dates of the New York Federal Reserve’s Maiden Lane II sales, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch data.

HSBC's residential lending and servicing business continues to be under what the bank calls a “strategic review,” leaving its mortgage workers in limbo.Servicing advisors say the bank has considered selling its Depew, N.Y., servicing platform and its roughly $42 billion of receivables, but hasn't liked the bids offered thus has far.

Bankrupt bond insurer Ambac Financial Group had a net loss of $963 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused Wells Fargo of failing to produce documents relating to an investigation of the bank's mortgage-backed securities.The SEC filed a subpoena enforcement action in federal court on Friday, seeking to force Wells to comply with subpoenas dating back to September 2011.

The government-owned Ally Financial sold $250 million of legacy mortgages last year, using the whole loan securitization market, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A week of predominantly housing reports, no Treasury coupon auctions, and very little Federal Reserve speak was supposed to provide a respite after the sharp sell-off last week via upbeat assessments of the economy in the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement.