BankThink

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Housing Stimulus No. 4,080: The Obama administration is cutting FHA mortgage insurance premiums on “streamlined” refinancings — those that replace FHA loans in good standing and thus don’t require appraisals, credit checks or income verification. The cuts could save borrowers $1,000 a year, not counting the savings from refinancing into a lower interest rate. “It’s like another tax cut that will put more money into people’s pockets,” the president said. The catch: The lower fees only apply to refis of FHA loans originated before June 2009. This excludes an estimated two-thirds of the FHA’s portfolio. But unlike the mass refi plan Obama announced in his State of the Union address, this comparatively modest one doesn’t require legislation. Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post

The Federal Housing Finance Agency acting director, Edward DeMarco, recently sent to Congress a strategic plan for the next phase of conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A new structure for housing finance requires congressional action, yet neither Congress nor the administration has come up with an acceptable plan in the three years since Fannie and Freddie were placed into conservatorship. It's far from clear that the DeMarco plan will get the job done.

An ongoing drama is unfolding: a David versus Goliath tale of sorts that pits a Riverside, Calif., family fighting to stay in their home against the weight of that elephant, otherwise known as "Freddie."

They won’t go cold turkey. Surprisingly, the more purchases consumers pay for with debit, the more cash they withdraw. Use ATM screens to get the word out about debit’s benefits.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Money Market Funds: Luis Aguilar, a Democratic member of the Securities and Exchange Commission who usually sides with its chairman, Mary Schapiro, tells the Journal in an interview that he’s wary of her proposal to tighten regulation of money market funds. He doesn’t quite come out and say he’d vote against it, but if he did, it’s likely to fail: The five-member commission consists of Schapiro, Aguilar, one other Democrat and two Republicans, neither of whom is expected to support the chairman’s plan. Meanwhile, the Journal’s “Heard on the Street” column says that of two reforms she’s pushing, the one to make money funds trade at a floating share price rather than a fixed $1 per share is eminently more sensible. The other idea, to require the funds to hold capital buffers, sounds great in theory except that “capital is a regulatory construct” that can create a false sense of security. Such a false sense of safety is the problem with money funds to begin with. “New regulations should dispel the myth that these funds can't suffer losses and are akin to bank accounts, a fallacy that could turn them into a systemic threat.”

On Feb. 29 one of the members of the Federal Open Markets Committee, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher, called for the breakup of the top five U.S. Banks.

Every now and then some doomsday cultist predicts the end of the world, but it doesn't occur. No big news.

CUES, CUNA and NAFCU could all abandon their management school curriculum and just have CEOs who have been in the trenches sit down in front of classes and talk about their experiences.

The auto lending market is improving and credit unions are increasing their focus in this market to tap into the profit potential, as they continue to win over unhappy bank customers.

Call report instructions should be modified in order to properly measure the magnitude of long-term assets and interest rate risk.