[ucodegen]

Try SD Union Tribune..
http://realestate.signonsandiego.com/san-diego-rentals/

[ucodegen]

Try SD Union Tribune..
http://realestate.signonsandiego.com/san-diego-rentals/

[ucodegen]

Try SD Union Tribune..
http://realestate.signonsandiego.com/san-diego-rentals/

[ucodegen]

Ken Lewis and a few sell-side shills are the only folks who are trying to spin Countrywide as a victory

I wouldn’t consider it a victory. I think that Ken Lewis jumped the gun. I wish he had picked the desired assets after Countrywide BK or as a process of the BK. I don’t think many banks were comfortable enough to belly up to the table during this portion of the credit crunch and bid on those assets. This way he could shed the liability portion of Countrywide, or at least had a chance to cherry pick. I don’t think it is as bad as some people claim, but it is no victory.

If I remember correctly, BofA also loaned Countrywide about $2Bil near the start of the credit crunch. This had me scratching my head.

I can understand why Ken Lewis was looking at Merrill. BofA got Quick&Reilly to get the investment banking ‘arm’.. but Q&R was mostly personal and smaller accounts. Merrill would give them commercial. The problem is the price. I suspect the issue with Merrill was Ken Lewis jumping the gun again (like with Countrywide) combined with Merrill misrepresenting the state of its books. MAC was a way out until the Fed stepped in with the shotgun.

My opinion on Ken Lewis is that he is really no better nor no worse than many other bank CEOs. There are many that sank their ships. I do worry about who is going to be next. I also think that Ken Lewis was way overpaid for what he did, but I think that of a lot of CEOs. I think that most of the CEOs compensation should be in growth of their company (ie ownership of common), not salary, in-money-options etc.

BofA is a giant black hole of risk that is unanalyzable.

I think that this applies to more than just BofA.

Ask Warren Buffett… he’s only down 70% on his BofA position.

I think he may be down more than 30%.. he was buying when it was in the 30s (price before Countrywide and Merrill). It is presently bouncing between 16 and 17. I haven’t checked to see if he added to his position in March 09 though.

[ucodegen]

Ken Lewis and a few sell-side shills are the only folks who are trying to spin Countrywide as a victory

I wouldn’t consider it a victory. I think that Ken Lewis jumped the gun. I wish he had picked the desired assets after Countrywide BK or as a process of the BK. I don’t think many banks were comfortable enough to belly up to the table during this portion of the credit crunch and bid on those assets. This way he could shed the liability portion of Countrywide, or at least had a chance to cherry pick. I don’t think it is as bad as some people claim, but it is no victory.

If I remember correctly, BofA also loaned Countrywide about $2Bil near the start of the credit crunch. This had me scratching my head.

I can understand why Ken Lewis was looking at Merrill. BofA got Quick&Reilly to get the investment banking ‘arm’.. but Q&R was mostly personal and smaller accounts. Merrill would give them commercial. The problem is the price. I suspect the issue with Merrill was Ken Lewis jumping the gun again (like with Countrywide) combined with Merrill misrepresenting the state of its books. MAC was a way out until the Fed stepped in with the shotgun.

My opinion on Ken Lewis is that he is really no better nor no worse than many other bank CEOs. There are many that sank their ships. I do worry about who is going to be next. I also think that Ken Lewis was way overpaid for what he did, but I think that of a lot of CEOs. I think that most of the CEOs compensation should be in growth of their company (ie ownership of common), not salary, in-money-options etc.

BofA is a giant black hole of risk that is unanalyzable.

I think that this applies to more than just BofA.

Ask Warren Buffett… he’s only down 70% on his BofA position.

I think he may be down more than 30%.. he was buying when it was in the 30s (price before Countrywide and Merrill). It is presently bouncing between 16 and 17. I haven’t checked to see if he added to his position in March 09 though.

[ucodegen]

Ken Lewis and a few sell-side shills are the only folks who are trying to spin Countrywide as a victory

I wouldn’t consider it a victory. I think that Ken Lewis jumped the gun. I wish he had picked the desired assets after Countrywide BK or as a process of the BK. I don’t think many banks were comfortable enough to belly up to the table during this portion of the credit crunch and bid on those assets. This way he could shed the liability portion of Countrywide, or at least had a chance to cherry pick. I don’t think it is as bad as some people claim, but it is no victory.

If I remember correctly, BofA also loaned Countrywide about $2Bil near the start of the credit crunch. This had me scratching my head.

I can understand why Ken Lewis was looking at Merrill. BofA got Quick&Reilly to get the investment banking ‘arm’.. but Q&R was mostly personal and smaller accounts. Merrill would give them commercial. The problem is the price. I suspect the issue with Merrill was Ken Lewis jumping the gun again (like with Countrywide) combined with Merrill misrepresenting the state of its books. MAC was a way out until the Fed stepped in with the shotgun.

My opinion on Ken Lewis is that he is really no better nor no worse than many other bank CEOs. There are many that sank their ships. I do worry about who is going to be next. I also think that Ken Lewis was way overpaid for what he did, but I think that of a lot of CEOs. I think that most of the CEOs compensation should be in growth of their company (ie ownership of common), not salary, in-money-options etc.

BofA is a giant black hole of risk that is unanalyzable.

I think that this applies to more than just BofA.

Ask Warren Buffett… he’s only down 70% on his BofA position.

I think he may be down more than 30%.. he was buying when it was in the 30s (price before Countrywide and Merrill). It is presently bouncing between 16 and 17. I haven’t checked to see if he added to his position in March 09 though.

[ucodegen]

Ken Lewis and a few sell-side shills are the only folks who are trying to spin Countrywide as a victory

I wouldn’t consider it a victory. I think that Ken Lewis jumped the gun. I wish he had picked the desired assets after Countrywide BK or as a process of the BK. I don’t think many banks were comfortable enough to belly up to the table during this portion of the credit crunch and bid on those assets. This way he could shed the liability portion of Countrywide, or at least had a chance to cherry pick. I don’t think it is as bad as some people claim, but it is no victory.

If I remember correctly, BofA also loaned Countrywide about $2Bil near the start of the credit crunch. This had me scratching my head.

I can understand why Ken Lewis was looking at Merrill. BofA got Quick&Reilly to get the investment banking ‘arm’.. but Q&R was mostly personal and smaller accounts. Merrill would give them commercial. The problem is the price. I suspect the issue with Merrill was Ken Lewis jumping the gun again (like with Countrywide) combined with Merrill misrepresenting the state of its books. MAC was a way out until the Fed stepped in with the shotgun.

My opinion on Ken Lewis is that he is really no better nor no worse than many other bank CEOs. There are many that sank their ships. I do worry about who is going to be next. I also think that Ken Lewis was way overpaid for what he did, but I think that of a lot of CEOs. I think that most of the CEOs compensation should be in growth of their company (ie ownership of common), not salary, in-money-options etc.

BofA is a giant black hole of risk that is unanalyzable.

I think that this applies to more than just BofA.

Ask Warren Buffett… he’s only down 70% on his BofA position.

I think he may be down more than 30%.. he was buying when it was in the 30s (price before Countrywide and Merrill). It is presently bouncing between 16 and 17. I haven’t checked to see if he added to his position in March 09 though.

[ucodegen]

Ken Lewis and a few sell-side shills are the only folks who are trying to spin Countrywide as a victory

I wouldn’t consider it a victory. I think that Ken Lewis jumped the gun. I wish he had picked the desired assets after Countrywide BK or as a process of the BK. I don’t think many banks were comfortable enough to belly up to the table during this portion of the credit crunch and bid on those assets. This way he could shed the liability portion of Countrywide, or at least had a chance to cherry pick. I don’t think it is as bad as some people claim, but it is no victory.

If I remember correctly, BofA also loaned Countrywide about $2Bil near the start of the credit crunch. This had me scratching my head.

I can understand why Ken Lewis was looking at Merrill. BofA got Quick&Reilly to get the investment banking ‘arm’.. but Q&R was mostly personal and smaller accounts. Merrill would give them commercial. The problem is the price. I suspect the issue with Merrill was Ken Lewis jumping the gun again (like with Countrywide) combined with Merrill misrepresenting the state of its books. MAC was a way out until the Fed stepped in with the shotgun.

My opinion on Ken Lewis is that he is really no better nor no worse than many other bank CEOs. There are many that sank their ships. I do worry about who is going to be next. I also think that Ken Lewis was way overpaid for what he did, but I think that of a lot of CEOs. I think that most of the CEOs compensation should be in growth of their company (ie ownership of common), not salary, in-money-options etc.

BofA is a giant black hole of risk that is unanalyzable.

I think that this applies to more than just BofA.

Ask Warren Buffett… he’s only down 70% on his BofA position.

I think he may be down more than 30%.. he was buying when it was in the 30s (price before Countrywide and Merrill). It is presently bouncing between 16 and 17. I haven’t checked to see if he added to his position in March 09 though.

[ucodegen]

Use DCF? Use DCF… yes, that’s a good idea but for the fact that… we don’t know yet what the CF (cash flow, that is) is going to be (although I’m sure BofA likes to pretend that they know).

You don’t know the exact cash flow on the loans, but you can bound them. You can’t predict the future 100%, but you can get an approximate idea, best worse case as well as probabilities of both.

What, I don’t know… but not nearly as much as it used to be because SFR servicing is a money losing business right now.

No its not, it is probably the only winning business right now. You have virtually no liability and you collect fees on the passthrough. If you are servicing SFR mortgages, you don’t necessarily own them.. they are likely securitized.

The MAC clause is invoked – if it’s invoked at all – AFTER the acquisition process has started, the transaction has been announced, and BEFORE the proposed closing date (because something “material” shows up after due diligence has been completed and the transaction has been announced).

My point exactly;
1) AFTER the acquisition process has started.
2) AFTER the transaction has been announced.
3) BEFORE the proposed closing date – for ‘material’ reasons.

You may have done ‘due diligence’ on bank transactions, but I can virtually guarantee you that a final audit is completed BEFORE the proposed closing date, and part of the reason for the final audit is make sure there are no ‘material’ reasons… and what was seen during the diligence phase was what is really behind the books.

If you think I am insinuating that Merrill Lynch mis-represented their books during the due-diligence phase, you are damn right! That is what defines a ‘material’ reason! The audit differs from the articles presented during due-diligence… there is a ‘material’ discrepancy. If what was presented during due diligence was the same as what the auditors came up with, then the material clause could not be invoked.

[ucodegen]

Use DCF? Use DCF… yes, that’s a good idea but for the fact that… we don’t know yet what the CF (cash flow, that is) is going to be (although I’m sure BofA likes to pretend that they know).

You don’t know the exact cash flow on the loans, but you can bound them. You can’t predict the future 100%, but you can get an approximate idea, best worse case as well as probabilities of both.

What, I don’t know… but not nearly as much as it used to be because SFR servicing is a money losing business right now.

No its not, it is probably the only winning business right now. You have virtually no liability and you collect fees on the passthrough. If you are servicing SFR mortgages, you don’t necessarily own them.. they are likely securitized.

The MAC clause is invoked – if it’s invoked at all – AFTER the acquisition process has started, the transaction has been announced, and BEFORE the proposed closing date (because something “material” shows up after due diligence has been completed and the transaction has been announced).

My point exactly;
1) AFTER the acquisition process has started.
2) AFTER the transaction has been announced.
3) BEFORE the proposed closing date – for ‘material’ reasons.

You may have done ‘due diligence’ on bank transactions, but I can virtually guarantee you that a final audit is completed BEFORE the proposed closing date, and part of the reason for the final audit is make sure there are no ‘material’ reasons… and what was seen during the diligence phase was what is really behind the books.

If you think I am insinuating that Merrill Lynch mis-represented their books during the due-diligence phase, you are damn right! That is what defines a ‘material’ reason! The audit differs from the articles presented during due-diligence… there is a ‘material’ discrepancy. If what was presented during due diligence was the same as what the auditors came up with, then the material clause could not be invoked.

[ucodegen]

Use DCF? Use DCF… yes, that’s a good idea but for the fact that… we don’t know yet what the CF (cash flow, that is) is going to be (although I’m sure BofA likes to pretend that they know).

You don’t know the exact cash flow on the loans, but you can bound them. You can’t predict the future 100%, but you can get an approximate idea, best worse case as well as probabilities of both.

What, I don’t know… but not nearly as much as it used to be because SFR servicing is a money losing business right now.

No its not, it is probably the only winning business right now. You have virtually no liability and you collect fees on the passthrough. If you are servicing SFR mortgages, you don’t necessarily own them.. they are likely securitized.

The MAC clause is invoked – if it’s invoked at all – AFTER the acquisition process has started, the transaction has been announced, and BEFORE the proposed closing date (because something “material” shows up after due diligence has been completed and the transaction has been announced).

My point exactly;
1) AFTER the acquisition process has started.
2) AFTER the transaction has been announced.
3) BEFORE the proposed closing date – for ‘material’ reasons.

You may have done ‘due diligence’ on bank transactions, but I can virtually guarantee you that a final audit is completed BEFORE the proposed closing date, and part of the reason for the final audit is make sure there are no ‘material’ reasons… and what was seen during the diligence phase was what is really behind the books.

If you think I am insinuating that Merrill Lynch mis-represented their books during the due-diligence phase, you are damn right! That is what defines a ‘material’ reason! The audit differs from the articles presented during due-diligence… there is a ‘material’ discrepancy. If what was presented during due diligence was the same as what the auditors came up with, then the material clause could not be invoked.

[ucodegen]

Use DCF? Use DCF… yes, that’s a good idea but for the fact that… we don’t know yet what the CF (cash flow, that is) is going to be (although I’m sure BofA likes to pretend that they know).

You don’t know the exact cash flow on the loans, but you can bound them. You can’t predict the future 100%, but you can get an approximate idea, best worse case as well as probabilities of both.

What, I don’t know… but not nearly as much as it used to be because SFR servicing is a money losing business right now.

No its not, it is probably the only winning business right now. You have virtually no liability and you collect fees on the passthrough. If you are servicing SFR mortgages, you don’t necessarily own them.. they are likely securitized.

The MAC clause is invoked – if it’s invoked at all – AFTER the acquisition process has started, the transaction has been announced, and BEFORE the proposed closing date (because something “material” shows up after due diligence has been completed and the transaction has been announced).

My point exactly;
1) AFTER the acquisition process has started.
2) AFTER the transaction has been announced.
3) BEFORE the proposed closing date – for ‘material’ reasons.

You may have done ‘due diligence’ on bank transactions, but I can virtually guarantee you that a final audit is completed BEFORE the proposed closing date, and part of the reason for the final audit is make sure there are no ‘material’ reasons… and what was seen during the diligence phase was what is really behind the books.

If you think I am insinuating that Merrill Lynch mis-represented their books during the due-diligence phase, you are damn right! That is what defines a ‘material’ reason! The audit differs from the articles presented during due-diligence… there is a ‘material’ discrepancy. If what was presented during due diligence was the same as what the auditors came up with, then the material clause could not be invoked.

[ucodegen]

Use DCF? Use DCF… yes, that’s a good idea but for the fact that… we don’t know yet what the CF (cash flow, that is) is going to be (although I’m sure BofA likes to pretend that they know).

You don’t know the exact cash flow on the loans, but you can bound them. You can’t predict the future 100%, but you can get an approximate idea, best worse case as well as probabilities of both.

What, I don’t know… but not nearly as much as it used to be because SFR servicing is a money losing business right now.

No its not, it is probably the only winning business right now. You have virtually no liability and you collect fees on the passthrough. If you are servicing SFR mortgages, you don’t necessarily own them.. they are likely securitized.

The MAC clause is invoked – if it’s invoked at all – AFTER the acquisition process has started, the transaction has been announced, and BEFORE the proposed closing date (because something “material” shows up after due diligence has been completed and the transaction has been announced).

My point exactly;
1) AFTER the acquisition process has started.
2) AFTER the transaction has been announced.
3) BEFORE the proposed closing date – for ‘material’ reasons.

You may have done ‘due diligence’ on bank transactions, but I can virtually guarantee you that a final audit is completed BEFORE the proposed closing date, and part of the reason for the final audit is make sure there are no ‘material’ reasons… and what was seen during the diligence phase was what is really behind the books.

If you think I am insinuating that Merrill Lynch mis-represented their books during the due-diligence phase, you are damn right! That is what defines a ‘material’ reason! The audit differs from the articles presented during due-diligence… there is a ‘material’ discrepancy. If what was presented during due diligence was the same as what the auditors came up with, then the material clause could not be invoked.

[ucodegen]

I am presently running the investments on my Mothers 403b’s money. The people that the Teacher’s Union had running it were really pretty bad. Beyond that, I don’t have to, nor will have to support her. She has the Teacher’s pension which is quite nice as well as almost full coverage for medical as part of her retirement (Blue Shield). Other than 2 hospitalizations, she is pretty healthy (I am trying to get her to be more physically active though). She is past median lifespan.

My father passed away a few years years back, and he was about 10 years past median lifespan. Initial thoughts were that he was going to outlive my Mother because he hiked regularly (and was as stubborn as hell). Unfortunately he decided to do ‘holistic’ tooth care instead of proper care. The result was gingivitis progressing to tooth loss. The bacteria ended up getting into his bloodstream and attacking the heart, resulting in CHF (Congestive Heart Failure). In his case, one side was more damaged than the other as well as increased turbulence within the heart (increased stroke risk). The result is that you need to take drugs to make one side beat stronger (to compensate for the CHF) as well as a blood thinner. Only one big problem was that he was inconsistent in taking the blood thinner. At that time I didn’t know much about the drugs involved, otherwise I would have pushed him to take Aspirin instead of Warfarin/Coumadin. Aspirin is more predictable and has a longer life (almost 11 days compared to about 3 for Warfarin) within the body. If you miss a dose of Aspirin, just take it the next day.. with Warfarin, you have to be much more careful. Suffice it to say, he missed doses of Warfarin, resulting in more than one stroke. The last one did significant damage. He had to be placed in a Nursing home (was careful about which one, because some of them are pretty bad). He still had enough presence of mind to know what was happening and what had happened to his mind from the stroke. He did not want to continue, so about 1 year after the last stroke, he starved himself to death. He had sufficient funds to continue the Nursing home for more than 10 years.

We didn’t order forced feeding because he didn’t wish it. It was something we discussed as a family a long time ago. My family likes to ‘go out’ with our boots on. We don’t like to having last memory of ourselves as being a barely conscious blob of protoplasm for our loved ones. When it is time to go, it is time to go!. We see continuing under a terminal, painful condition.. as torture. Living like that, is not living.

Sorry if the Father part is TMI (Too Much Info). I do want to emphasize that people pay attention to their health care, and not always doing exactly what a doctor requests without asking questions. It is your body, your health, your life – be involved. Dental care is surprisingly important. The bacteria that attack your teeth will attack your heart if it gets into the bloodstream. Also be aware of alternate drugs to what is normally prescribed. Sometimes an alternate is better, sometimes a generic or off patent drug will do just as well or better… and it won’t leave as much of a financial dent.

[ucodegen]

I am presently running the investments on my Mothers 403b’s money. The people that the Teacher’s Union had running it were really pretty bad. Beyond that, I don’t have to, nor will have to support her. She has the Teacher’s pension which is quite nice as well as almost full coverage for medical as part of her retirement (Blue Shield). Other than 2 hospitalizations, she is pretty healthy (I am trying to get her to be more physically active though). She is past median lifespan.

My father passed away a few years years back, and he was about 10 years past median lifespan. Initial thoughts were that he was going to outlive my Mother because he hiked regularly (and was as stubborn as hell). Unfortunately he decided to do ‘holistic’ tooth care instead of proper care. The result was gingivitis progressing to tooth loss. The bacteria ended up getting into his bloodstream and attacking the heart, resulting in CHF (Congestive Heart Failure). In his case, one side was more damaged than the other as well as increased turbulence within the heart (increased stroke risk). The result is that you need to take drugs to make one side beat stronger (to compensate for the CHF) as well as a blood thinner. Only one big problem was that he was inconsistent in taking the blood thinner. At that time I didn’t know much about the drugs involved, otherwise I would have pushed him to take Aspirin instead of Warfarin/Coumadin. Aspirin is more predictable and has a longer life (almost 11 days compared to about 3 for Warfarin) within the body. If you miss a dose of Aspirin, just take it the next day.. with Warfarin, you have to be much more careful. Suffice it to say, he missed doses of Warfarin, resulting in more than one stroke. The last one did significant damage. He had to be placed in a Nursing home (was careful about which one, because some of them are pretty bad). He still had enough presence of mind to know what was happening and what had happened to his mind from the stroke. He did not want to continue, so about 1 year after the last stroke, he starved himself to death. He had sufficient funds to continue the Nursing home for more than 10 years.

We didn’t order forced feeding because he didn’t wish it. It was something we discussed as a family a long time ago. My family likes to ‘go out’ with our boots on. We don’t like to having last memory of ourselves as being a barely conscious blob of protoplasm for our loved ones. When it is time to go, it is time to go!. We see continuing under a terminal, painful condition.. as torture. Living like that, is not living.

Sorry if the Father part is TMI (Too Much Info). I do want to emphasize that people pay attention to their health care, and not always doing exactly what a doctor requests without asking questions. It is your body, your health, your life – be involved. Dental care is surprisingly important. The bacteria that attack your teeth will attack your heart if it gets into the bloodstream. Also be aware of alternate drugs to what is normally prescribed. Sometimes an alternate is better, sometimes a generic or off patent drug will do just as well or better… and it won’t leave as much of a financial dent.

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