Secondary

The CMBS market paralleled broader markets last week with buyers preparing for quarter end. The spreads were roughly unchanged week-over-week as trading volume slowed, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts.

Moody's Investors Service is warning that it may downgrade Assured Guaranty Corp., Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp., and all affiliated insurance operating companies, an action that might make it difficult for the bond insurer to attract new business.

Bankrupt bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc. had a net loss of $963 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded the senior and mezzanine structured-finance ratings on a 1999 series of single-family mortgage bonds issued by the Idaho Housing and Finance Association to A1 from Aaa and Aa2. The outlook is negative.

The loss of revenue from the naming rights of the Kodak Theatre is negatively impacting the commercial mortgage-backed security that includes a mortgage for the renamed Hollywood and Highland Center, according to a report last week by analysts at Deutsche Bank Securities.

If you're looking for the missing piece to the mortgage "deconsolidation" equation, its name is Wells Fargo. Never before in the annals of residential finance has one company amassed such an enormous market share in lending (27%) and servicing (20%).

In case you missed the story on the National Mortgage News website, here's a headline for you: Some firms have the ability to make $10,000 per loan on HARP 2.0 loans. A nice chunk of that profit estimate is tied to secondary market pricing.

Fannie Mae granted more than 11,000 exceptions to its lending standards for single-family mortgages it owned in early 2005, according to a new government report attempting to explain how Fannie's portfolio faltered during the housing bubble.

In competitive sports, being first is always the goal. But the distance between the U.S. - at the head of the pack - and the rest of the world in crafting financial reforms is becoming a major hurdle for implementing the Dodd-Frank Act.

Stonegate Mortgage, a fast-growing nonbank lender based in Indianapolis, has received a $25 million investment form private equity fund, Long Ridge Equity Partners, and plans to use the money to grow both its servicing portfolio and third-party lending channels.