Hoping to spur new housing finance techniques, the Treasury Department has issued “Best Practices for Residential Covered Bonds.” 

Among the many sources of Ben Bernanke’s headaches these days, we can be sure that the exchange value of the dollar is near the top of the list.

When the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) declared IndyMac dead and turned the corpse over to the FDIC for burial, it declared the cause of death to be homicide.  The bank was done in, according to the OTS statement, by the actions of Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY). 

Even the deepening dread surrounding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was not enough to cut through the Senate’s obscure rules.  In the face of the latest market crisis, the world’s greatest deliberative body, as the Senate likes to style itself, struggled to find a way to actually pass its version of a housing-recovery package — a measure that enjoys overwhelming support.