Quote from athlonmank8:
The crux of the matter is that you cannot market...(therefore value) worthless assets. It's more than an interest rate problem. It's a combination of ARM resets, and not being able to market assets that were previously worth SOMETHING.
The books on these companies were "cooked". No one cared though because if everyone does it.....then it's all fine and dandy.
That is until it all comes undone.
The assets are not really worthless but there is a current lack of liquidity. Eventually this will right itself, but to be sure, money will be lost. But the mortgage paper is not going to zero!
Now on another thought, what do you guys think the probability is that a 50 bp Fed cut is already priced in so that if come Tuesday the cut is as anticipated we get the usual antics and then the market sells off? Of course if the cut is less than expected, then the market also sells off. I'm having trouble accepting the premise that the market will go a whole lot higher regardless of what the Fed does. No one seems to want to be short ahead of the Fed! That seems to be what todays, and probably Mondays, sideways holding pattern is all about. Could this be the Granddaddy of all Bull Traps! Those few brave enough (I'm certainly not) to go into Tuesday massively short ,may close out their trading careers massively rich (or massively broke!) come 4pm Tuesday .