Friday, November 2, 2007

Merrill Lynch, Michael Lewis, etc.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119396956371280131.html?mod=yahoo_hs&ru=yahoo

click on title.

Thoughts on yesterday's Wall Street news and reportage:

No one mentions this but Michael Lewis, in "Liar's Poker," some 20 years' (?) ago explained why Salomon Brothers' and Lou Ranieri's securitization of mortgages was inheritly impossible of valuation: no one knew when the homeowner would sell his property and pay off the mortgage.

There was a Mallon interview yesterday on CNBC. He justified the subprime mess by saying,

No. 1: it generated a lot of fees;
No. 2: it helped a lot of people buy houses.

Item No. 1 is like the doctor saying to the patient: You have cancer but all is not bad: see that beautiful nurse over there? I'm dating that beautiful nurse over there!

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