Securitization

Fannie Mae posted yet another stunning loss in the third quarter, $18.8 billion, noting that it now owns or guarantees close to $200 billion in nonperforming assets.

With the nation's unemployment rate busting through the 10% mark in October, President Obama on Friday signed legislation extending the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit and giving additional tax breaks to certain homeowners trading up.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that three experts in the fields of risk management, structured finance and corporate transactions have been named to senior positions at its newly-established division of risk, strategy, and financial innovation.

There are those who predict that the next sky to fall with be the one above CMBS. The question for our markets is: Will it also land on leveraged finance?

Ginnie Mae guaranteed more than $38.6 billion in MBS over the month of October. For the first 10 months of calendar 2009, the agency provided close to $376 billion of liquidity to the secondary market, compared with $219 billion for the first 10 months of last year.

The Higher Education Loan Authority of the State of Missouri has priced a FFELP-backed student loan ABS.

Ambac Financial Group left investors hanging yesterday.

Wilshire Credit Corp., Beaverton, Ore., is talking to Fannie Mae about becoming a "force-placed" servicer for the GSE, according to investment banking sources familiar with the situation.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., has vowed in a letter to regulators to try to strengthen proposed rules on derivatives.

Moody's Investors Service will be publishing a series of reports that will detail its views on

Already a flash point of controversy over its online bank's high deposit rates and negative advertising, GMAC is now ruffling feathers by cutting back on disclosures about its troubled mortgage arm.

Though fears linger that regulators are letting banks kick problems down the road, most observers say guidelines released last week that outline ways to modify commercial real estate loans gave banks much-needed clarity for handling troubled credits and would ultimately prove beneficial.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rates fell back below 5% for the week ending Nov. 5, the first time since Oct. 15 when they averaged 4.92%.

BNP Paribas announced appointments to its fixed income business in New York.

Boston Portfolio Advisors (BPA) named Thomas Glanfield to succeed Scott Calahan as president and chief executive officer.

USAA Federal Savings Bank is in the market with a $1 billion auto transaction called USAA Auto Owner Trust 2009-2. The lead managers on the offering are Barclays Capital and Credit Suisse.

This month's Term ABS Loan Facility (TALF) subscription saw fewer transactions versus last month.

In a report released yesterday, FTN Financial, analysts discussed their expectation regarding the GNMA market and GNMA/FNMA relationship in the 1H10.

Fitch Ratings has placed 58 classes from 13 commercial real estate CDOs containing a concentration of 2005 vintage CMBS urities on Rating Watch Negative.

The mortgage division of GMAC Financial Services lost $747 million in the third quarter — thanks in part to loan repurchase liabilities — but its performance was a marked improvement over a $2 billion loss in the same period last year.