BankThink

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

More on JPMorgan Layoffs: According to a story in the Post, the more than 10,000 job cuts the bank announced this week speak volumes about JPMorgan's views on the housing market, good and bad. On the bright side, "foreclosures at the bank have tumbled … which is why most of the employees receiving pink slips are those that were hired to handle mortgage defaults." But JPMorgan is also cutting jobs in mortgage...

Now, with an ATM that directly converts paper cash to bitcoin anonymously, the interaction is with a machine rather than another human. No more face-to-face meetings, no more counterparty risk.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Ease on Down the Road: Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the Fed's asset purchases and signaled they will continue until the job market firms up. He addressed concerns that by driving down interest rates for a long period of time, the Fed's easing encourages inappropriate risk-taking: While the central bank is cognizant of that danger, he said, low rates "also serve in some ways to reduce risk in the system, most importantly by...

A recent court decision held that banks were entitled to the overdraft fees they collected over the years - essentially undermining the insurance companies' main argument against coverage.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have now become the gatekeepers for underwriting qualified mortgages. This guidance might be a safe harbor from litigation, but history indicates it may fail as a safe harbor from risky lending.