Wall Street Bailout Bill:Trickle-down Financial Aid? As the lead in the movie “Knocked Up” might say, “Moral Hazard, shmoral hazard.” If you’ve been befuddled by the term — and seem to be hearing it bantered about lately, in connection with the Wall St. bailout — think of it this way: Imagine that, instead of giving...Read More
Mother of all Bailouts Likely to SpawnMother of all Litigation It turns out that Enron was just a harbinger. For those who don’t remember, Enron was a cutting-edge energy company that spectacularly collapsed in 2002. At the heart of the melt-down were complex securities that few people outside the company even knew existed, let alone...Read More
“How I got My Seller an Extra $10k Last Week” Low — if not lowball — offers succeed more than they should because too often, Sellers are sitting ducks. The only one on the scene, circling like a vulture, is the would-be Buyer, who gradually wears down a desperate Seller who thinks they have no...Read More
Bailout Politics for DummiesFor anyone struggling to keep up with the fast-moving, ever-changing financial crisis, here’s a helpful analogy: Imagine that the U.S. financial system is a car driven by Wall Street. By now, it’s increasingly apparent that the car has been totaled — thanks to excessive leverage, unsound bets on housing, and negligent overuse...Read More
What it all Means for Real EstateOnce the ink dries on the to-be-determined Washington bailout of Wall Street, everyone’s focus will turn to sorting out the inevitable winners and losers. Although it’s too early to say if all residential housing will benefit, it’s predictable that at least one segment will: “medium-ish” upper bracket real estate....Read More
Bailout Package Debated As former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld might put it, “you fight an economic crisis with the political leadership you have” (not the more-perfect one you’d like). Thus, in addition to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, the key decisionmakers in any bailout package emerging from Congress will be people...Read More
