patrick.net

Not so sure who is an idiot in this case. The very fact that Mr. Devaney cannot afford his yacht clearly indicates that he was hoping that the subprime loan music will last forever which is obviously defies the common sense. On the other hand subprime borrowers have a good chance that their distressed baaah-ing will be heard by the government. No mercy for the private fund manager though (predatory lending anyone?).

@Bork,

No kidding. I wonder, did Mr. Devaney recognize the irony of his "idiot" comment after the fact? (I doubt it)

Maybe Devaney himself paid for the yacht with a no-doc home equity extraction.

HARM,

I swear it was like just a year ago someone was doing an article on what a genius this guy was and look at his pretty new yacht! I'll try to google this @$$clown and see what I come up with.

My how things change.

Interesting. So is the contrast between today and this 2004 profile.

http://tinyurl.com/33gvj8

A few quotes:

(In early 2004) “…this man was running his business out of a three-bedroom residential house in Florida.”
“…UCM moved out of the residential house and into a Key Biscayne’s largest office building; the company owns a 142-foot corporate yacht with a crew of nine, a Gulf Stream G400 helicopter and a corporate jet.”

“…as a move to add diversity to the firm and balance the risks in UCM’s other markets, UCM also launched a collateralized mortgage obligation (CMO) trading desk based in California run by Dan Steuer, formerly of Countrywide Securities.”

Steveoh,

Thanks, nice find. I'm positive they ran the exact same photograph when running the "genius" article a few short months back! I never forget a smug face. Not so smug NOW are ya!

(What is the market for ridiculous yachts these days anyway?)

Amazing how interconnected the housing bubble-blog world is. It looks like Aaron Krowne (of ML-Implode-O-Meter fame) has bought and taken possession of Casey's site:

http://iamfacingforeclosure.com/history.html

"...I believe that some government regulation of credit/capital markets is necessary and good for the economy, and why private firms cannot always be trusted to “self-regulate” all the time.
"

Absolutely!

But who is in a position to regulate the (private) Fed? They are the definitive *puppet masters* of this whole mess IMHO, and in no danger of being labeled philanthropists

DinOR,

I had that same deja vu feeling. And yes, that is the same (not sure what to do with my hands) picture.

"Devaney’s cohort on the trading desk is a former ABS trader at Bear Stearns, Sean Kirk"

Now there's a really good recommendation for you! A Bear Stearns whiz kid!

Sorry of the slightly OT post, but I’m a recovering boat-nut and wondered what this yacht, “Positive Carry” looked like inside. Nice!

http://tinyurl.com/32t9ah

Interiors and other pictures of 'Positive Carry' at

http://www.trinityyachts.com/141positivecarry.asp

But who is in a position to regulate the (private) Fed?

Good question. The President appoints the Fed Chief and the Senate confirms and (in theory) oversees him/her. However, as you pointed out, the Fed isn't a true state "Central Bank" under direct public control, as is the case in most other countries. Personally, I would like to see the private Fed abolished, it's policy of interest rate manipulation (mainly for Wall Street insiders' gain) ended, and its (mostly neglected) "policing" powers passed over to the Treasury Dept --a real government agency. See this previous thread for more details if you're curious.

Totally off topic, but it appears fancy bikes are getting pawned to keep FBs afloat a little while longer now :

http://tinyurl.com/2x3q43

I don't know how long a bike is going to stave of foreclosure.

OT: check out Jim Cramer's Mad money TV show on CNBC today. He is talking real estate among other things... also check this: http://tinyurl.com/yvrwml

Sadly hilarious new sob-story from a San Diego FB:

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2007/07/30/news/02homeshare073007.txt

...And with just a year under his belt in a commission-based business like real estate, Oh knew his income made it impossible to buy alone. So, two years ago, he and two college friends went in together on a three-bedroom, two-bath condo in Pacific Beach.

"You just have to really make sure everyone's on the same page," Oh said. "If one person or multiple people want to get out of the property, a few years down the line, it's a he-said-she-said. What if you lose your job? What if you get married? It sounds bizarre, but stuff happens."

What's so 'bizarre' about people losing a job, getting married or wanting to move?

My take: gives new meaning to the term "showing your 'Oh' face"!

There should be regulations to ensure transparency and integrity in the market.

There should also be regulations against the misuse of democracy. Just look at NIMBYism.

Finally, there should be regulations against the creation of regulations that interfere with the market.

Do you think Mr. Devaney envisioned an army of idiots leading him to world domination, or is he sincerely surprised that people were so eager to give their lives for him?

My regulation proposal to cleanup --and hopefully prevent a redux-- of our most recent (and by all accounts, largest ever) housing bubble:

--No more NINJAs, I/Os, neg-ams or hybrids thereof. Period.
If you cannot verify a borrower's income or collateral (W-2, 1099 or from self-employment), then don't make the loan. NINJAs, neg-ams & I/Os are little more than wealth transference schemes to move piles of money from sheeple to uber-wealthy for about 99.99% of the population. For the remaining .01% of Wall Street wizards who used to use them for rate arbitrage or convenience, you'll learn to cope --just like the rest of us hoi-polloi.

--No taxpayer funded bailouts of lenders, hedge funds, FBs, fraudsters or the ignorant/clueless. None of these groups is completely beyond (at least) partial guilt for what happened, and subsidizing this behavior will only get us more of it.

--No more rate-fixing/manipulation by the Fed. In fact, and end to the Fed as we know it (see my 2:49pm post). Ditto for the GSEs: time for some "privatization" of the best kind (for taxpayers).

--No more tax breaks for flippers, 2nd homes or houses you've lived in less than 5 years of continuous occupancy.

--Want an open-borders anything-goes immigration policy? Fine, but you also give up the right to oppose residential construction ANYWHERE except federal & state parkland. Don't like that 2,000 unit high-rise apartment for "guest workers" obscuring your lovely view of the Bay? Tough shit, Marinite --those 15 million "guest workers" (including your own gardener & "nanny") carry a big price tag, and it's your turn to start paying it.

--And end to Prop. 13 and S.O.S. type tax-transference schemes that give land-owning corporations, wealthy Trustafarians, and Boomers/Silent gens a free ride at younger buyers' expense. Want lower property taxes? Petition your local pol to drop (or eliminate) the millage rates --for EVERYONE.

(I won't speculate about the chance of any of the above actually passing a REIC bought-and-paid-for government, but at least you know where I stand ;-) )