Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: steve harris who wrote (306463)	8/5/2011 10:34:43 AM
From: joseffy	Respond to of 306849

Fannie Mae 2nd-quarter loss widens; asking taxpayers for $2.8 billion 8/5/11 \| Michelle Chapman finance.yahoo.com Government-controlled mortgage company Fannie Mae said Friday that its second-quarter loss widened as it continues to seek loan modifications to help reduce defaults amid the ongoing difficulties in the housing and mortgage markets. Fannie Mae also made $2.3 billion in dividend payments to the U.S. Treasury during the period, which reduces the amount it will be asking taxpayers for to $2.8 billion from $5.1 billion. Fannie's rescue has been one of the most expensive government bailouts. The amount of money it has received from the Treasury to stay afloat is set to rise to $104.8 billion when accounting for the latest request. Fannie has paid back $14.7 billion to the Treasury in dividends as of the end of June. Fannie Mae, based in Washington, D.C., and sibling Freddie Mac, based in McLean, Va., were created by Congress to buy mortgages from lenders and package them into bonds that are resold to global investors. They own or guarantee about half of all mortgages in the U.S., or nearly 31 million home loans worth more than $5 trillion. Along with other federal agencies, they backed nearly 90 percent of new mortgages over the past year. The government took over the companies in September 2008 after massive losses on risky mortgage bonds threatened to topple them. The government then put them into conservatorship, a legal arrangement under which the companies' government regulator controls their financial decisions. snip

To: steve harris who wrote (306463)	8/5/2011 1:57:30 PM
From: joseffy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

Obama has big birthday bash at WH... ............................................................................ Packed with Hollywood stars... Dancing barefoot in Rose Garden... HIP-HOP IN EAST ROOM... Plans $71,000-a-couple dinner... Friday, August 05, 2011 http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2011/08/all-details-inside-president-obamas.html All The Details: Inside President Obama's 50th Birthday Party At The White House Yes, they did the Electric Slide: Stevie Wonder, Chris Rock, Jay Z, Charles Barkley, Tom Hanks, Emmitt Smith, Grant Hill, Whoopi Goldberg, and other celebs dine and dance with the President and First Lady... President Obama and his A-list pals danced barefoot in the dramatically lit Rose Garden to celebrate his milestone 50th birthday on Thursday night, Obama Foodorama was told by guests who attended the "fabulous" but "casual" five-hour barbecue for more than 200 people. Stevie Wonder gave a "surprise" performance during the celebration; his hit "You and I" was the President and First Lady Obama's wedding song. Revelers included Jay Z; Tom Hanks; Chris Rock; hoops legends Charles Barkley and Grant Hill; Whoopi Goldberg; Dallas Cowboys Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith; and actor Hill Harper. He's one of the President's closest chums from Harvard law school, and star of CSI: NY. Jazz great Herbie Hancock and his ensemble played; R & B singer Ledisi dazzled the crowd. The night was balmy, and when dinner was done, a DJ spun dance tunes--"like at a Bar Mitzvah," said one guest. The twenty tables for ten in the Rose Garden were pushed aside so guests could dance, led by the President and Mrs. Obama. "'I'm going to challenge you all to dance,' the President said, and everyone did," said the guest. That's when everyone's shoes came off, and things kicked into high gear with barefoot jammin.' Among other dances, guests did the Electric Slide, which impressed Chris Rock so much he tweeted about it: "Just left the Presidents birthday party at the White House. Herbie Hancock played, Stevie Wonder sang and yes they did the electric slide. A great night." Rock wrote (sic). The celebration was a family affair, too: Obama daughters Malia, 13, and Sasha, 10, mingled with the grown-ups under the watchful eyes of their grandmother, Mrs. Marian Robinson, and their godmother, Eleanor "Mama Kaye" Wilson. The guests toasted the President throughout the night. Also on hand to mark the Presidential milestone were former governors Bill Richardson and Tim Kaine, and Mr. Obama's staunchest allies in the debt battle--Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Senior White House staff also celebrated: Chief of Staff Bill Daley, Cecelia Munoz, John Brennan, and Valerie Jarrett. Mrs. Obama's former Chief of Staff, Susan Sher, flew in from Chicago, as did two of the President's closest pals: Dr. Eric Whitaker, University of Chicago Hospital Vice-President, and The Parking Spot President and CEO Marty Nesbitt. Campaign fundraiser Andy Spahn was spotted, too. On the menu... There was "not a tie in sight" for the birthday dinner, according to one guest; men wore light summer-weight button downs and trousers, and women were attired in summer dresses--many taking their fashion cue from Mrs. Obama, and going sleeveless. Dinner was grilled chicken and steak, and Chicago-style hot dogs, with salad made with fresh greens plucked from Mrs. Obama's Kitchen Garden, as well as vegetable sides, accompanied by American wines. Tables were covered with simple gray cloths, and anchored by sprays of yellow flowers and greens. There was birthday cake, of course, and pie. Party favors for departing revelers were tucked into small black paper shopping bags with a shining gold Presidential seal on one side. The President and Mrs. Obama paid for the party out of their own pockets, according to a White House aide. The politically unfortunate optics of throwing a big 50th birthday party for President Obama when his poll numbers are dropping as fast as the stock market were not lost on the White House, so the President's shindig was not listed on his official Thursday schedule, and it was closed to press. But the big Five-Oh only comes around once, and the party was a long one--guests were screened through the first security check point starting at around 5:00 PM and were still straggling out of the White House after 11:30 PM. Thursday's bash was the President's fifth birthday party--he was toasted earlier in the day in the Blue Room by White House aides as well as family and friends, as first reported by Lynn Sweet of Chicago Sun-Times. On Wednesday, the President celebrated his birthday early in his hometown, Chicago, with three different campaign fundraising events, where thousands of supporters poured plenty of cash into campaign coffers. Hancock and his ensemble played for those events, too, as did Jennifer Hudson and rock band OK Go. The First Family will spend this weekend at the Presidential retreat, Camp David, in Maryland.

To: steve harris who wrote (306463)	8/6/2011 1:05:14 AM
From: joseffy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

Tea Party 'Terrorists' and the Mainstream Media .......................................................................................................................... By Bernard Goldberg August 03, 2011 foxnews.com Well, if it wasn’t obvious before it sure ought to be now. The liberal media elite have gone around the bend and over the cliff. The Crazy Train they’ve been riding has finally crashed. And it’s all because of those nasty conservative Tea Party Republicans. The same liberal journalists who won’t call a real terrorist a terrorist can’t go 10 seconds without calling conservative Republicans terrorists. Or “Wahhabis,” as Chris Mathews described them on MSNBC. Or “Hezbollah,” as Tom Friedman described them in the New York Times. Or as ‘suicide bombers” as Tina Brown the editor of Newsweek described them on “Morning Joe.” And just in case you’re dense and still don’t get it, we can all thank Peter Goodman, formerly of the New York Times and now an editor at the Huffington Post, who didn’t mince words when he wrote: “They are acting like terrorists. Yes, terrorists.” But even that was one-upped on Politico, in a column by a law professor at American University, William Yeomans, who wrote that the Tea Party caucus in the House were “full blown terrorists.” And then we got this from Fareed Zakaria on CNN: “What they're saying is, we’ll blow up the country if you don’t listen to us.” And keeping with the “blow up” the place theme, Paul Krugman, wrote in the New York Times that, “basically the Republicans said, 'We'll blow up the world economy unless you give us exactly what we want.'” Okay, we get it. Those conservative Republicans are terrorists who like to blow things up. I mean, they’re a regular horror show. Hold on. There’s an idea that takes us beyond terrorists and suicide bombers who like to blow things up. Make those conservative House Republicans out to be monsters, like the ones in horror movies. I wish I could say I came up with that, but Maureen Dowd beat me to it. In her column in the New York Times today, Ms Dowd compares the Tea Party Republicans … yes, no fooling … to monsters. Like the kind that scare the hell out of us in the movies. They were an “uncompromising new force” that “epitomized ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ and evoked comparisons to our most mythic creatures of the night.” What kind of mythic creatures of the night? Glad you asked. “They were like cannibals, eating their own party and leaders alive. They were like vampires, draining the country’s reputation, credit rating and compassion. They were like zombies, relentlessly and mindlessly coming back again and gain to assault their unnerved victims, Boehner and President Obama. They were like the metallic beasts in ‘Alien’ flashing mouths of teeth inside other mouths of teeth bursting out of Boehner’s stomach every time he came to a bouquet of microphones.” If this were an episode of “The Twilight Zone,” instead of real examples of real commentary from real liberal journalists, Rod Serling might end the episode with something like this: Terrorists. Cannibals. Vampires. Zombies. Just a normal day in the universe inhabited by liberal journalists … a bunch of clueless folks who have fooled themselves into believing they're smart and sophisticated people … people who have been careening down the tracks … on the Crazy Train. Bernie Goldberg's most recent book, "A Slobbering Love Affair," is about the mainstream media's fascination with Barack Obama. Read more: foxnews.com