Ask SFist -- Subprime?

Sur le même thème que "Ask SFist -- Subprime?"

Congress To Subprime CEOs: How Come You Got Paid Millions To Wreck The Economy? Hm? [Failures]

Congress got to ask the subprime CEOs what everyone else is thinking: Why did you get millions and millions of dollars to fail so spectacularly? From ABC News: "There seem to be two different... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] [lien] [EN]

It Can’t Hurt To Ask

Some of the most important advice I can give you in dealing with credit card companies, or just about any company, is “It can’t hurt to ask”.    There are millions of dollars paid in fees and late charges every month that companies are willing to waive, but only if you ask. Balances Are Now In Play It used to be that annual fees, late fees, and even interest were the most people could ever hope to recover from a friendly customer service agent.    Now, the game has expanded to include the actual balance.   Thanks to millions of people defaulting on their debts, credit card companies are now willing to negotiate down part of the original balance in their effort to get payment.   This article in the New York Times has generated a lot of interest in those concerned with negotiating their credit card debt. [lien] [EN]

Countrywide Still Asking Consumers To Lie About Their Income [Subprime Meltdown]

Countrywide would like you to believe that it put all that messy "predatory subprime lending" business behind it and is no longer coaching consumers to lie on their loan applications in order to qualify them for loans they can't afford... but are they telling the truth about telling the truth? One woman who recently contacted Countrywide about refinancing her home told NPR that sketchy mortgage lending is alive and well at Countrywide. "It was really every sleazy move in the book," says NPR's tipster, an economic analyst turned stay-at-home Mom who has owned several homes in the past and who is married to a mathematician. NPR's tipster says that when she told the Countrywide loan officer that her income was low because she was a stay at home mom, he told her that she could lie about husband's income because he had "manager" in his job title. [lien] [EN]

Ask a Librarian

New feature alert, folks! Ever want to know more about your local library? Or anything about libraries of the world. The art of receiving a masters in library sciences? Or why people use the Main Library bathroom as their own personal, um, spa? Well, send us your bibliotech-y questions. We've got a real-life librarian who will answer your many queries about documentation, fact-finding, library culture, annals, stacks, record-keeping, donations, cruising, Internet usage etiquette at the library, types of TV shows librarians adore, bibliotheca, events, readings, and more. Send your questions to brock@sfist.com with "Ask a Librarian" in the subject line. OK? OK. And remember: shhhh. [lien] [EN]

Who’s To Blame For The Subprime Mortgage Mess

“I’ve seen the enemy and the enemy is us.” I’ve been following the subprime mortgage debacle for a while now, giving it a lot of coverage. This bust has left us with some tragic results, as homeowners far and wide are left holding the bag and in ruins, after losing their homes and whatever else they’ve got. It’s common knowledge how much fraud has become a big part of this crisis, but in their own defense, insiders from the real estate industry have claimed that this crime is actually victimless. Is that so? Well you know what mainstream articles on this subject would like to have you think, since they’ve done a good job with putting a face on this crisis, profiling the many who have fallen victim to the trend. Israel Medina admits he got too gung ho about the idea of getting rich by flipping Bay Area real estate. [lien] [EN]

Life In A Subprime Ghost Town: Not Paying The Mortgage Feels "Great!" [Subprime Meltdown]

We've been hearing tales of suburban McGhost-Towns that were submerged by a tidal wave of foreclosures at the height of the subprime meltdown and are now just sitting there, the lawns turning brown one by one. Tess Vigeland from Marketplace Money found one of these mythical towns and interviewed some of the residents. With so many houses standing empty, one of the few remaining families has decided to stop paying their mortgage. You might expect tears, but the Sinclairs say it feels "great" to be living rent free with a "bank full of money": Sinclair: If they reduced our interest rate back to 4.25, we might be able to make the payments, but I don't think we're going to. Vigeland: Now, why not? Sinclair: We would do it if the equity was there, but in a case where we're already so behind. [lien] [EN]

Just ask me

Question: Why would somebody want to give to retire a debt for somebody who lost? Answer: An actual question from the lovely Lucianne Goldberg. Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton owes herself $11 million. Her vanity, meet or schadenfreude. On behalf of the Republican Party, thank you, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama. May you serve long in the Senate. Question:  How did you spend last weekend? Answer: With these wonderful people. Question: How big a lead over Republican Sen. John McCain does Obama have? Answer: 15 points. The most since Democratic Gov. Mike Dukakis led Vice President George Bush by 17 points. Question: Who are the Subprime Six? Answer: Watchers of the banking industry who received cheap loans from Countrywide. Unfortunately, it mainly involves Democrats so the press is ignoring this scandal. [lien] [EN]

Just ask me

Question: Is your convertible saving your life? Answer: That's what I tell my wife. Now there is science to prove it. Question: Why is the Naked Cowboy suing the blue M&M? Answer: To get some money. It may be copyright infringement. Then again, it might not. The company should settle. Question: Is Nancy Pelosi the victim of sexism that she says she is? Answer: Heck no. When you promote yourself as the First Woman House Speaker and win, you have overcome any sexism. But perpetuating this battle serves her purposes, and so she does. Question: Are Senate races moving in one direction? Answer: To Democrats, perhaps. But Stuart Rothenberg has his doubts. I say, see me in September. This Subprime Six has yet to play out. Question: Why are conservatives happier than liberals? Answer. [lien] [EN]

Six Rarely-Asked Questions About The Meltdown: Could Someone Answer? [The Panic Of '08]

All morning we have been totally fixated the minutiae of the Wall Street Meltdown. And all morning the business media has been desperately scrambling to answer our Big Pressing Questions. Did Hank Paulson do the right thing by letting Lehman fail? Paul Krugman sure hopes so! Why did Bank Of America buy Merrill yesterday instead of waiting for its stock to get pounded and getting in at a cheaper price? All morning long the CNBC people have been scratching their heads, wondering if it took some sort of "nudge" from the Fed! Okay, so here is our big problem: what do we care? There are a lot of things we'd like to understand about what the hell is going on a few blocks south of us right now, but "whether Bank of America is doing the right thing for its shareholders" is not one of them. For instance. [lien] [EN]

Subprime Response

Larry Summers is worried: Ex-Treasury Secretary Calls For Tax Cut, Spending Plan, by Michael M. Phillips, WSJ: Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, once a fiscal hawk among Clinton Democrats, said the government should consider a $50 billion to $75 billion tax-cut and spending package to stave off a deep recession. Mr. Summers ... also urged the Federal Reserve to take more aggressive action to ensure that its rate cuts actually reduce consumers' interest charges and stimulate spending. "Insufficient action to contain recessionary forces has much more serious consequences than excessive action to contain recessionary forces," Mr. Summers said... Mr. Summers's comments put him among the most pessimistic economic prognosticators and were a slap at the Bush administration's handling of the subprime. [lien] [EN]

Ask Venture Hacks

We get lots of email from people asking for advice. We’re going to start answering the most interesting questions here, so everyone can participate in the discussion. Got a question? Send it to ask@venturehacks.com. We read every question. Names will be changed to protect the innocent. In the meantime, catch up on past editions of Ask Venture Hacks, where we tackled VCs vs. angels, build vs. sell, doom, the world’s biggest fund-raising mistake, and the wonderful world of supra pro rata rights. [lien] [EN]

Reggie Bibbs and the Just Ask Neurofibromatosis Campaign

Fellow Wikipedia editor and friend, Michael Laurent, has recently asked me to take part in a great project: to interview Reggie Bibbs on his life with neurofibromatosis. I only wrote a short description of the condition, the work was totally done by Michael and the interview was conducted by Lou Congelio. You should check out the whole story at WikiNews. Here is an excerpt. Reggie Bibbs is a 42-year-old-man living in Houston, Texas. Mr Bibbs was born with a genetic disease called neurofibromatosis (NF), which causes him to develop tumours on his body. NF can be a subtle disease, but in Bibbs’ case it has left him with a disfigured face. But he is happy with the way he looks, and doesn’t want to change his appearance to please other people. He has launched a succesful campaign entitled “Just Ask”. [lien] [EN]

Ask Yourself How You Should Get Me to Read Your Blog

In How to Get Me to Read Your Blog, Thord Daniel Hedengren tells us how to convince him, and others, to read your blog. Chances are I’m not reading your blog. That’s not because I don’t like you, most likely I don’t even know you exist, and that’s your fault. Yes, you heard me. Your fault. It’s something you can remedy though. There are a gazillion blogs out there, and most of them suck, to be honest. Yours might not, though, so I’m willing to have a look. But how am I to find it? And why should I stay along at all? His points are very good: · Are you commenting on my posts? · Do you submit your posts to social tools? · Do you write great headlines? · Does your blog look like shit? · Does your blog even function like it should? · Don’t clutter it at all! · Do I get your blog? · Are you being consistent with your updates? Any of these resemble you and your blog? I’d add a few more questions to the list. [lien] [EN]

Think Differently Challenge -- Ask for a Little Help

I've mentioned my "issue with being a perfectionist" and trying to let it go. Truly this is one of those BIG Goals I talked about in my previous post so I will be breaking it down into mini-goals. The first mini-goal is to ask for a little help. I was tagged by Greg Butler of Holistic Personal Development to take part in this Think Differently Challenge. Peter of IwillChangeYourLife.com. started this challenge and I am using it to address my issue of not being able to ask for help. I am going to try my hardest to change this and I will give you an update somewhere down the line and let you know how it is going. Even when ill and in pain it felt like such a struggle to ask for help. I was the helper, the do-er, the one who could take care of the kids, the house, my friend's that needed advice . [lien] [EN]