Cain's Libya Stumble Goes Viral Online
Herman Cain became badly flustered on Monday when asked to assess President Obama’s policy toward Libya, raising new questions about his command of foreign policy as he lurched over five minutes from awkward pauses to halting efforts to address the issue.
Later, when struggling to answer questions, came the quote of the day from Cain:
He added: “I’ve got all this stuff twirling around in my head.”
Maybe there are too many 9s floating in his head. Maybe there are too many women in his head that he's had inappropriate contact with. Maybe he's trying formulate his speech to withdraw from the presidential race.
41% of People Say American Dream Is Lost; 63% Say Economy Getting Worse: Y! Finance Survey
A new survey by Yahoo! Finance shows Americans have a disturbing lack of hope and a frightening lack of retirement planning.
Among the highlights of the poll:
-- 41% of Americans say the 'American Dream' has been lost.
-- 37% of adults have NO retirement savings and 38% plan to live off Social Security.
-- 63% of Americans believe the economy is getting worse, including 72% of those over the age of 55.
These findings are consistent with broader trends The Daily Ticker has reported on in the past year: Despite macro data showing the economy has technically recovered from the 'Great Recession', the majority of Americans just aren't feeling it. Considering 49 million Americans are living in poverty, the "real" unemployment rate is 16% and millions of Americans are facing foreclosure, it's no wonder many believe the recession never ended.
The Main Street economy continues to frustrate Americans. A technical recovery is not translating into enough jobs. On top of that, we in a deflationary income environment for many Americans. What happens in the next recession? More lower pay, more layoffs, and probably higher taxes by then!
Chicago Fed's Evans: Take a Chance With More Stimulus
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said Tuesday it was time to take more chances with monetary stimulus, citing a weak economy.
"I’m advocating a more aggressive stance of monetary policy," he told CNBC. "I think we should be more aggressive and that frankly makes a lot of people nervous."
Oh big surprise. More of the same failed advice from the bobble headed bureaucratic elite.
Government Mortgage Insurer Continues to Lose Cash Reserves
The government's mortgage insurer is coming dangerously close to holding no excess cash reserves for loan losses.
An annual independent actuarial report puts the FHA's loan loss reserves at .24% of its $1.1 trillion dollars in insured mortgages.
The FHA, which does not originate loans, but insures them, has gone from less than 5 percent market share at the height of the housing boom to now more than 30 percent. The auditor measures the FHA's reserve by estimating future losses, and those estimates continue to grow as home prices fall and mortgage delinquencies still run very high.
The FHA's estimated reserves stand at $2.6 billion as of September 30th, according to the report, down 45 percent from $4.7 billion last year. Congress mandates that the FHA's reserves must be at least 2 percent of its total insurance in force, but it hasn't been at that level for a few years now. Auditors estimate it will not be back above that level until 2014, and that would be based on the current book of business.
"The credit quality of fha borrowers in 2011 is setting a new record with an average credit score of over 700 for the first time ever," said FHA acting director Carol Galante on a call with reporters.
Still, if home prices continue to fall, the FHA could need government support in the form of a bailout.
The report uses as base-case scenario from Moody's Analytics, indicating a home price decline in 2011 of 5.6 percent and a small growth in prices in 2012 of 1.3 percent.
Other analysts have predicted a price drop in 2012, or at the very least a flattening with no growth. Still the independent auditors say "projections suggest that any further, nationwide price declines in 2012 would need to rival those of 2011 before this first level of support would be insufficient."
The FHA, however, may be looking at growing risk, as lawmakers this week vote on reinstating higher loan limits just for FHA and not for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The limits fell in 600 counties on October 1st.
"This is situation that has never occurred before, so it's very hard for us to make any kind of prediction around how much of that business will end up coming to FHA versus finding other private alternatives," Galante said. "We can deploy premium increases if the economic situation is worse than it is today," she added.
FHA has quickly become the new Freddie and Fannie, rising from 5% to 30% of the market. The government continues it's insane policy of king home lender. Loan loss reserves are well below mandated levels, and close to empty. Can you say, "hello tax payers for a bail out?" Bank on it.
Hope all is well.
J.D. Rosendahl, Rosey