Main News

 

 

 

Economists fear wave of evictions on way
Financial Times - London,England,UK
But shifts in mortgage finance and innovations in the financial sector mean that most subprime loans are no longer handled by federally regulated banks. ...
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Three Asian giants
Forecasting foreign investment in China, Japan and India
Full article

 

Six US regulatory agencies have called for more loss-mitigation strategies to prevent homeowner defaults on mortgages. In a joint statement they said that all regulated financial institutions that service mortgage loans should take appropriate steps when default is “reasonably foreseeable”. The regulators stated loss-mitigation strategies could include loan modifications; deferral of payments; extension of maturities; conversion of adjustable-rate mortgages into fixed-rate or fully indexed, fully amortizing adjustable-rate mortgages; a reduction of principal; or capitalisation of delinquent amounts. The regulators are trying to counteract the marked increase in foreclosure filings, which have skyrocketed from 92,845 in July 2006 to 179,599 in July 2007, or a 93% increase, according to California-based data provider RealtyTrac.
US regulators encourage loss-miti gation strategies

 

Liquidity Assessments: An Alternative Financing Option For Variable-Rate Debt
An environment of volatile and ever higher trending interest rates in the late 1970s and early 1980s led to significant innovations in the municipal debt markets, which remain operative today. For investors, volatile interest rates translated to the risk of severely depressed asset values as long-term rates rose to unprecedented levels. Similarly, issuers of long-term municipal debt struggled with the burden of high debt service costs brought on by the same unstable and high interest rate setting. Thus, variable-rate demand obligations were developed that allow nominally long-term debt to behave (and be priced) as if it were short-term paper, offering benefits to both investor and issuer.
To learn more, click or copy and paste the URL below:
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http://standardandpoors.rsys1.net/servlet/cc5?kHiQWWRRQTVsLgHxhilpuHQJhuV2VB

 

In a working paper entitled ‘Quantification of Hedge Fund Default Risk’, which led to the publication of a full article in the Fall issue of the Journal of Alternative Investments, Jean-René Giraud and Stéphane Daul of the EDHEC Risk and Asset Management Research Centre, together with co-author Corentin Christory, examined numerous cases of hedge fund default in order to find the common factors behind fund failures. The objective of the paper was to provide an initial framework for quantifying the non-financial extreme risk of hedge funds with the aim of factoring it into the portfolio construction phase. The paper examines the statistical properties of hedge fund failures and attempts to identify essential risk factors that can tentatively explain why certain funds are more likely to default on their investors and creditors than others. More...

 

Outflows from hedge funds. Published: September 7 2007 09:30 | Last updated: September 7 2007 14:58. If the latest research is accurate, then investors in ...
www.ft.com/cms/s/820309a6-5d1c-11dc-8d22-0000779fd2ac,_i_rssPage=9575c976-454d-11da-981b-00000e2511c8.html - 4 hours ago - Similar pages - Note this

 

Harvard, Yale Hedge-Fund Investment May Be Eased by Levin Plan
Source: Bloomberg
Representative Sander Levin said he plans to offer a measure allowing universities such as Harvard, Yale and Stanford to invest in hedge funds in the U.S. without incurring a tax penalty. More... <http://www.hedgefund-index.com/newstoday.asp>

 

 

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Yield Curve Corner

 

Lights, camera, inaction
Rates on hold
Full article

 

An increase in the premiums investors require to take risk is probably a healthy development, said US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. Speaking about recent developments in financial markets at the Kansas City Federal Reserve’s annual economic symposium in Wyoming on August 31, he observed: “Some increase in the premiums that investors require to take risk is probably a healthy development on the whole, as these premiums have been exceptionally low for some time.” But in the past few weeks, he said, this increase in risk premiums has interacted with heightened concern about the risks of credit and uncertainty over valuations to create “significant market stress”. He added that the Fed was “ready to take additional actions as needed to provide liquidity and promote the orderly functioning of markets”.
Bernanke: Increasing risk premiums “probably healthy”< /p>

 

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Natural Disaster Corner

 

Climate Prediction  http://www.nws.noaa.gov/predictions.php

World Meterological Organization http://severe.worldweather.org/

Tornadoes: http://www.disastercenter.com/tornado.htm

Great Sat Pictures of events: http://www.osei.noaa.gov/Events/Current/FSMcalifornia250_G11.jpg

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Iranian Situation

 

RUSSIA, IRAN:  Cooperation between the Russian Federal Security
Service and Iran's Interior Ministry will enhance Iran's border
security, First Deputy Director-General of Russian Federal Security
and Border Services Viktor Shlyakhtin said, according to an IRNA
report. Shlyakhtin is in Iran to inspect Iranian-Russian projects
in areas of Iran's Sistan-Balochistan province that border
Afghanistan and Pakistan.

 

US court fines Iran 2.65 bln for 1983 Lebanon attack
AFP via Yahoo! News Fri, 07 Sep 2007 12:14 PM PDT
A US federal court on Friday ordered Iran to pay 2.65 billion dollars to the families of 241 soldiers killed in the 1983 bombing of a Marine barracks in Beirut.

 

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Opalesque’s Corner

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Misc. Items of Interest

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Funnies, Facts, Quotes, etc….

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Conference, Courses, Books, Papers

 

Great Research Sites:

 

Merrill Lynch research Link to full report including important disclosures see example

 

John Mauldin’s Weekly Analysis

 

James Altucher’s Website:

 

Other useful sites:

 

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Index Corner

 

The CSFB/Tremont Hedge Fund Index www.hedgeindex.com.

The Cogent Dynamic Averages http://www.cogenthedge.com/home/inv_strategy.asphttp://www.cogenthedge.com/home/inv_strategy.asp

The Dow Jones Indices: http://www.djhedgefundindexes.com/index.cfm?event=viewPremiumContent (free registration)

HFRX Indices https://www.hedgefundresearch.com/hfrx_reg/index.php?fuse=login&1170880431

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Regulatory Info

 

 

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Disclaimer

 

The information contained in this document does not constitute an offer or solicitation to sell any security or other type of vehicles to or by anyone in any jurisdictions, nor should it be regarded as a contractual document. Under no circumstances should the information provided on this document be considered as financial advice, or as a sufficient basis on which to make investment decisions. The information contained herein has been gathered by Investor DNA, LLC from sources deemed reliable as of the date of publication, but no warranty of accuracy or completeness is given. Investor DNA, LLC is not responsible for and provides no guarantee with respect to any of the information provided herein or through the use of any hypertext link. Past results are no indication of future performance. All information in this newsletter is for educational and informational purposes and does not constitute investment, legal, tax or accounting advice. All materials are the property of the respective publishers, as referenced by header and appropriate hypertext links.