Washington Post Article: "An Unsavory Slice of Subprime"

jazz4cash · 10-21-2007, 01:45 PM

Good, somewhat technical explanation of the mortgage mess:

washingtonpost.com

Texas Proud · 10-21-2007, 06:39 PM

Interesting article... and it rings familiar.... I used to be a trustee for issues like that...

I remember buying an investment once for one of my trusts... it looked like a swap of US gvmt issues.. but underlying that US issue was another swap of Venezuelan debt... SO, someone was thinking they had US debt when they actually had Venezuelan debt... talk about getting fleeced if you are not looking at things..

MOST CMOs or CDOs were better than the one shown, but back in the 80s some of the mortgage issues by Housing districts (which were first mortgages) had up to 50% default rate... the Z bond and the lower ranked bonds got hit hard... but it is hard to determine what is good and what is bad.

jazz4cash · 10-21-2007, 07:53 PM

What smokes me is GS going short after placing the issue!

clifp · 10-21-2007, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jazz4cash

What smokes me is GS going short after placing the issue!

The guys at GS didn't take home multimillion bonus each year by being dumb. Now sometimes they aren't nearly as smart as they think and the pay for their hubris. I think shorting something they just sold a client is slimey but not stupid.

haha · 10-21-2007, 11:08 PM

Excellent article. Thanks for posting it. Allan Sloan took the time and got the help he needed to write something that really contained information.

Ha

deserat · 10-22-2007, 12:31 PM

Thanks for the link - excellent article. This all reminds me of betting at the craps table - you could cover your bets many ways - so they offered a product and then covered their bet of that product losing money by shorting it as well. Gambling - eh?

This combined with the Technology Review article are great reading - reminds me of the great stories in the WSJ of how those dotcom companies would spend all of their newly found wealth on parties, jets and stuff unrelated to the 'business.' Yet another get rich quick scheme gone bad.

Spanky · 10-22-2007, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Yet another get rich quick scheme gone bad

.. not for Goldman Sachs that gives you the shaft.

10-21-2007, 01:45 PM	#1
jazz4cash Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Laurel, MD Posts: 1,075	Washington Post Article: "An Unsavory Slice of Subprime" Good, somewhat technical explanation of the mortgage mess: washingtonpost.com Last edited by jazz4cash; 10-21-2007 at 01:49 PM. Reason: wrong link

10-21-2007, 11:08 PM	#5
haha Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ... Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Seattle Posts: 8,473	Excellent article. Thanks for posting it. Allan Sloan took the time and got the help he needed to write something that really contained information. Ha __________________ "Show 'em just enough to win the turkey."- Former KY Governor Bert Combs

10-22-2007, 12:31 PM	#6
deserat Recycles dryer sheets Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 428	Thanks for the link - excellent article. This all reminds me of betting at the craps table - you could cover your bets many ways - so they offered a product and then covered their bet of that product losing money by shorting it as well. Gambling - eh? This combined with the Technology Review article are great reading - reminds me of the great stories in the WSJ of how those dotcom companies would spend all of their newly found wealth on parties, jets and stuff unrelated to the 'business.' Yet another get rich quick scheme gone bad. __________________ Deserat aka Bridget

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10-21-2007, 06:39 PM	#2
Texas Proud Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 3,052	Interesting article... and it rings familiar.... I used to be a trustee for issues like that... I remember buying an investment once for one of my trusts... it looked like a swap of US gvmt issues.. but underlying that US issue was another swap of Venezuelan debt... SO, someone was thinking they had US debt when they actually had Venezuelan debt... talk about getting fleeced if you are not looking at things.. MOST CMOs or CDOs were better than the one shown, but back in the 80s some of the mortgage issues by Housing districts (which were first mortgages) had up to 50% default rate... the Z bond and the lower ranked bonds got hit hard... but it is hard to determine what is good and what is bad.

10-21-2007, 07:53 PM	#3
jazz4cash Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Laurel, MD Posts: 1,075	What smokes me is GS going short after placing the issue!

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