From Martin Wolf at The Financial Times.

No, says Bronte Capital. 

Bronte also looks at the bank bust in Norway.

Now this is the type of news that we want to see if we are looking for a bottom in housing prices.

What's wrong with this picture? 

I just finished reading the latest edition of one of my favourite publications, Grant's Interest Rate Observer, Vol 26 No 18, dated September 19, 2008.

In a piece on the desirability of investments in certain mortgage structures, Grant's discusses the state of the current housing market. 

This is good news for the market.

From The Financial Times

Some industry analysts estimate, for example, that if investment banks were to cut leverage ratios from 30 times (or recent levels) to 20 times, this would trigger $6,000bn worth of asset sales, excluding likely deleveraging by hedge funds too.

This came to me in my email today.

I caught a bit of Paulson's Congressional testimony this morning.  He made it very clear that he thinks RTC II should be transparent and subject to oversight.  That's good. 

I have not heard anything about barring legal challenges through the courts, though I have not heard his entire testimony.  If there is no checks and balances to the expenditure of $700 billion somewhere in the government, that is very bad.

If he has spoken on the subject, could someone please let me know in the comments section.

Well, now we know the market's reaction to The Plan to Save the World, aka RTC II. 

Consider