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The second lien sticking-point – FT Alphaville

When mortgage modifications like Hamp come into play, that traditional priority order is reversed. The borrower is paying the Hamp-modified (i.e. lower) first lien amount, and the full second lien amount, so the second lien effectively becomes senior to the first.

Housing Rebound in Canada Spurs Talk of a New Bubble – The Wall Street Journal

As the U.S. struggles to get out of its housing slump, its neighbor to the north faces a different challenge: Canada’s housing recovery has been so rapid that some here are worrying about a bubble.

‘Cash-in’ refis growing in popularity – The Los Angeles Times

Now the pendulum in consumer psychology appears to be swinging toward reduction of household debt — whether on credit cards or mortgages.

Flathead – Matt Taibbi

Thomas Friedman in possession of 500 pages of ruminations on the metaphorical theme of flatness would be a very dangerous thing indeed. It would be like letting a chimpanzee loose in the NORAD control room; even the best-case scenario is an image that could keep you awake well into your 50s.

Greek Ouzo crisis escalates into global margin call as confidence ebbs – Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

For the third time in 18 months the global financial system risks spinning out of control unless political leaders take immediate and radical action.

European Central Bank in a Squeeze – The New York Times

If the crisis worsens, it would fall to European governments to arrange a rescue of Greece or any other ailing country, like Portugal. While wanting to avoid anything that encourages further reckless borrowing and excessive government spending, they have indicated they will do whatever it takes to prevent a sovereign default of a euro member.

Bank Securitization Woes Only Beginning – Naked Capitalism, Yves Smith

As anyone who had even slight contact with the business press no doubt knows, a whole raft of credit bubble era securitizations, particularly real estate and credit cards, have suffered losses far in excess of what banks and investors anticipated. The result, with real estate securitizations, is that almost all of the market ex government guaranteed paper is in a deep freeze.

Paying your credit card bill before the mortgage – The Washington Post

TransUnion, one of the big credit bureaus, recently released a report showing that an increasing number of consumers are choosing to pay their credit card bills before their monthly mortgages.

BLS Seasonal Adjustments Gone Haywire; 11% Unemployment Coming by May? – Mish

Unless it’s different this time (I figure it is not) a reversion to the mean that slightly overshoots in a May-June timeframe will lop off a whopping 1.3 percent off the posted seasonally adjusted rate of 9.7 percent just announced.

Homeowners rent out rooms to stave off foreclosure – The San Jose Mercury News

Reeling from the recession’s one-two-three-punch of job woes, climbing mortgage payments, and evaporating equity, desperate Silicon Valley homeowners are dipping into a nearby income stream to avoid foreclosure:

That bedroom just down the hall.