The FHA's Money-For-Squatters Program

The FHA allows not-so-qualified buyers to squat with 3.5% down payment terms.   As of June 2010, the FHA had 6.4 million insured loans in force. Three and a half million of them were put in place during FY 2008-2009.  This was roughly a fourth of the mortgage market during that period.   The total dollar amount of FHA insurance in place through June was $865 billion.  Bank of America and Wells Fargo are invoking their “skill sets” to lead the charge on this fiasco.

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Colbert On Oyster Herpes And Seafood Tainted By BP's Underwater Oil Plumes: "My Mouth Is Watering Already"

A pair of Colbert Report clips on the flip.

Must Read:

• Gulf Oil Spill: Rick Steiner Got BP Disaster Right From The Beginning, Warns Crisis Is Far From Over

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Morgan Stanley Says Sovereign Defaults Inevitable

“Governments will impose a loss on some of their stakeholders,” Arnaud Mares in the firm’s London office wrote in a research report today. “The question is not whether they will renege on their promises, but rather upon which of their promises they will renege, and what form this default will take.” The sovereign-debt crisis is global “and it is not over,” he wrote.

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CARTOON OF THE DAY: Obama's Secret Service

• Full-Size Image

• Cartoon -- Founding Fathers Discuss The Constitution

• Cartoon Archive

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Chris Whalen Destroys Buy-Side Clown (VIDEO)

What an idiot.  You're a mid-level portfolio manager and you agree to appear on CNBC to discuss bank stocks and earnings against the greatest banking analyst of the last 2 decades.  And you're unprepared.  You deserve the annihilation.

Second clip inside of Whalen with Larry Kudlow and James Glassman discussing the Fed, economy, recession.  Yes Glassman, the Dow 36,000 nimrod.  Do I still show glimpses of PTS from years as a tech bubble short seller?  Probably.

From Whalen's email to the Bail:

• "This is a great example of how the Street is walking into the buzz saw on financials, happily buying lower revenue and poor quality earnings."

Keep watching.  Whalen does not let up with the beatdown until Burnett closes the interview.

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Jon Stewart Annihilates Blagojevich: I Really 'Want To Believe You're Not A Sociopath' (VIDEO)

Daily Show Video:  Jon Stewart with Rod Blagojevich -- Aired Aug. 23, 2010

Outstanding interview.  Best I've ever seen with Blago.  Stewart is righteous and combative.  Make sure you hear the FBI tape at the 5:50 mark of part 1.  Parts 1 & 2 are inside.  Heads up -- This is the uncensored version so there is some profanity.

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Must See Charts -- Housing Cliffdives, U.S. GDP By Decade, History Of World GDP, Deficits With/Without The Iraq War

Notice the blip on the far-right for July 2010.  Anyone have another adjective besides fugly?  More chart porn on the flip.

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S&P Downgrades Irish Debt On Concern Over Cost Of Bank Bailouts, Outlook Negative

Video:  Live clip of Stiff Little Fingers performing Alternative Ulster -- 1979 Tour

European markets open in 4 hours.  This is not a helpful data point for the bulls.

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Boehner To Obama: Fire Geithner And Summers (VIDEO)

Analysis, several links, and a bonus clip as the Founding Fathers search for Boehner all over the best golf courses and tanning salons of Northern Ohio.

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KC Fed President Thomas Hoenig On Housing, Banks, Fannie, Freddie & Deleveraging (VIDEO)

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Market Strategist Charles Nenner: Dow Could Fall To 5000 In Next 24 Months (VIDEO)

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White House Leaks On Fannie, Freddie Restructuring (WSJ)

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Mark Pittman 1, Bernanke 0 (FED Loses Latest Appeal To Limit Bailout Disclosure -- Supreme Court Is Next)

The N.Y. Federal Court of Appeals has ruled and it's not looking good for Bernanke.

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Steal Groceries, Go To Jail; Steal Billions, Get An SEC Wells Notice (Gasparino On Lehman Developments)

Links, video and quotes transcribed inside.

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