Late this past week Wayne Lee resigned as chief executive of Ameriquest Mortgage and presidentof its affiliate, wholesaler Argent Mortgage. Together Ameriquest/Argent is the largest subprime/nonconformingfunder in the nation, according to the Quarterly Data Report. In a statement issued by the company, Mr.Lee said he is leaving after 15 years "to take on new challenges and explore new opportunities." Overthe past year there has been constant talk of an Ameriquest-related initial public offering (or a bond offering)but so far it hasn't materialized. Ameriquest and Argent are controlled by Ameriquest Capital Corp. SeeMonday's National Mortgage News for more details. Don't subscribe to NMN? Call: (800) 221-1809...
Also in Monday's NMN, it appears that Government National Mortgage Association volumes are gettinghammered. Some mortgage bankers believe that if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac get "jumbo"authority in certain high-cost markets GNMA's business could be further decimated. Check out the full story...
A few days ago Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan warned about exotic mortgage instrumentsand the effect they are having on home prices in certain markets. Mr. Greenspan also said he does not have a goodexplanation for why long-term interest rates have been falling at a time when he and his Fed colleagues have beenraising short-term rates. Because Mr. Greenspan is (now) so concerned about a housing bubble in some areas, couldit be the Fed will keep hiking rates? Stay turned...
More bad news for the parent of GMAC Mortgage: General Motors plans to eliminate 25,000 jobs inthe U.S. by 2008 and close plants as part of a strategy to revive its struggling North American operations. Keepin mind that some of those 25,000 workers have mortgages...
Countrywide's servicing portfolio now stands at $937 billion. My guess is it likely will crack the $1trillion mark in July...
Washington Mutual has agreed to buy credit card company Providian in a stock and cash transactionvalued at $6.45 billion. This should end, for now, all the talk of WaMu being a takeover target...
Sandler O'Neill on National City: "We think the major factor impacting NCC's 2Q results willlikely be the effect of continued flattening of the yield curve on the company's consolidated results, especiallythe net interest margin and gain on sale margins for First Franklin. On its first-quarter conference call, managementventured that the worst of the First Franklin gain-on-sale compression was behind the company, but at the sametime it did not see much near term improvement." First Franklin is a top-ranked nonconforming lender...
A researcher from McKinsey & Co. called us the other day asking a bunch of questions about residentialloan production by credit-card companies and stock brokerage firms. Inquiries were made on Morgan Stanley,Edward Jones, MBNA and others...
An American Enterprise Institute conference entitled "Just How Bad Is the Oxley-Baker Bill?"has been scrapped. It was originally slated for Thursday, June 16, but two days ago AEI pulled the plug...
WASHINGTON NEWS:Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., has circulated a letter that urges Republican leaders to stopHouse consideration of a GSE regulatory reform bill unless a provision requiring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac toset up an affordable housing fund is stripped from the bill. Requiring the two GSEs to contribute 5% of after-taxprofits for an affordable housing fund is a "dangerous course of action" that runs against "freemarket principles," according to the Pence letter, which is addressed to House Majority Leader Tom Delay,R-Texas. It's nice to know Fannie and Freddie still have their old lobbying magic.
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: Prudential Mortgage Capital has named Paul Aanonsen chief of its multifamilyloan origination business. SG Corporate & Investment Banking has named David Stern tohead its securitization syndicate. Mr. Stern will be responsible for pricing and underwriting securitizations,including residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities and collateralized debtobligations. HanoverTrade has named Lisa Malie vice president in its technology division. AntonioF. Faria has been named president of Doral Money, a New York-based subsidiary of Puerto Rico-basedDoral Bank.
FINAL-FINAL-FINAL SURVEY REMINDER: Too late folks. The deadline has passed for lenders and servicersto fill out the 11th annual production/servicing survey conducted by NMN. Only interested parties that begwill be granted a day or two more. To view the survey
DATA NOTICE: The first-quarter 2005 edition of both the Quarterly Data Report and AlternativeProducts Quarterly Data Report is now available.
The AP-QDR features rankings on the top interest-only, alt-A and jumbo lenders. For more info about these productscontact:
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