Let's start with the funeral -- no, not the Bear Stearns funeral but we'll get to that in a minute. This past week the family of Roland Arnall laid the former subprime king to rest at the Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Attending the funeral were politicians (and former politicians) Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gray Davis, and Antonio Villaraigosa. A former account executive at Argent Mortgage had this to say: "Some say he was a wolf in sheep's clothing or maybe he just turned a blind eye to all the money that was flowing in -- and made up for it doing deeds for the greater good of mankind. We may never know. But what is known is the influence he made on the political landscape and to the lives of many of his employees. I felt like I was at a political rally with the amount of politicians that came to pay their respects. You could say there wasn't a dry eye in the place -- but it wasn't necessarily for passing of 'The 'Father of Subprime' but for our own futures." The AE told us that he was recently let go by Argent's new owners, Citigroup...
And now for Bear Stearns. Few in the mortgage industry were feeling sorry for the nation's fourth largest investment banking firm. JPMorgan Chase has agreed to buy the former Wall Street titan for just $2 a share or $260 million. A year ago its stock price was $160. Whether Bear's bridge playing chairman Jimmy Cayne can pull off a takeover more accretive to shareholders is another matter. This is what one mortgage industry veteran had to say: "They started this whole thing with EPDs (early payment default) buybacks. They started a liquidity crisis for lenders and now they're having a liquidity crisis of their own." In early 2006 National Mortgage News printed a story about Acoustic Home Loans being shut down because of EPDs and buybacks. Back then we put the story on our front page but not one major newspaper picked it up. Acoustic was the first of many to go under. The investment banker that forced Acoustic to go bust was none other than Bear Stearns...
THIS JUST IN: Remember Stanford Kurland, the former Countrywide president who was destined to become the successor to Angelo Mozilo? We understand he's put together a real estate fund to bottom fish. Stay tuned...
Meanwhile, in Monday's NMN we're publishing a list of the nation's top residential servicers -- many of which had decent quarters in terms of receivable growth. The rankings also appear in our Quarterly Data Report. To order the QDR send an email to:
Deartra Todd of our research staff also wants you to know that she is still collecting annual production, servicing and broker surveys. If you would like to participate send an email to:
WASHINGTON NEWS: The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has formally agreed to loosen capital requirements on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The move is expected to provide $200 billion in immediate liquidity to the MBS market. For full details see the Monday edition of National Mortgage News. Don't subscribe? Call: (800) 221-1809.
LOAN OFFICER SURVEY NOTICE: National Mortgage News has launched its new 2008 'Loan Officer Survey.' To participate (it's free) just visit:
MUST-ATTEND MORTGAGE MEETINGS: SourceMedia will hold its second annual 'Mortgage Servicing Conference" at the Westin Park Hotel in Dallas on April 17 and 18. The keynote speaker is Paul Bennett, chief economist for the New York Stock Exchange. For more information visit:
DATA NOTICE: The Mortgage Industry Directory and the online version of the book are still available. (Mention this notice and receive a free Quarterly Data Report.) Besides listing detailed information on the top 400 lenders and 300 servicers in the U.S., the MID ranks the nation's top funders of commercial mortgages. There's also information on loan brokers. The book has valuable contact information on the top executives and department heads at each firm. For more information email:
That's it for this weekend update. Enjoy your Easter weekend. Great song about Easter: 'Easter' by Patti Smith off the album of the same name. It was among her best.
