The Mortgage Mess: A Very Funny Look At A Very Serious Topic

Friday, September 19, 2008
The Mortgage Crisis: A Serious Story Viewed In A Very Funny Way

Some Quick Current Events

In a week of unprecedented developments, today brings us some more.

The SEC has banned the short selling of 800 financial stocks for a couple of weeks. Not an up-tick rule or needing to be able to borrow and deliver the stock, but a ban. Today will be a short squeeze rally of epic proportions.

There is a proposal to institute insurance on $1 in and $1 out money market funds to avoid the run that was beginning to appear yesterday in this multi-trillion dollar market.

There is a proposal to set up a Resolution Trust like fund to buy troubled mortgage assets.

To The Funny Stuff

The following cartoon depicts in an extremely funny way, the sub-prime mortgage crisis as it might have happened. It takes you from the original making of the mortgage, to the investment banks that packaged and sold them, to the accountants and ratings agencies that blessed them to the investor that bought them. Funny, sad, scary and to a certain extent true.

The series has been around for a while, but with the epic developments this morning concerning a Resolution Trust type fund, a ban on short selling of financial stocks and government insurance for money market funds, now is a good time to take another look at it.

Warning: The comic does include some words that some might find objectionable, so if you think you are one of them email me and I will give the gist.

The link to view the comic frame by frame is http://www.flickr.com/photos/70898289@N00/sets/72157603960390184/ .

To view this as a slide show the link is http://www.flickr.com/photos/70898289@N00/sets/72157603960390184/show/ .

Thanks to flickr.com and gokmop for making it available.