"And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.
Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville --
mighty Casey has struck out”.
Casey at the Bat


 
Update - 2008-07-11: "The FDIC is in charge" was the verbal announcement ringing through the halls of IndyMac's Pasadena offices. "Everyone show up for work on Monday." 

July 11 (Bloomberg) -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders, battered by losses of more than 74 percent this year, shouldn't bet on an imminent government bailout of the biggest U.S. mortgage-finance companies. 

It’s about time Downey discontinued their negative amortization loans; AND what about mortgage brokers (earnings) fees capped at a maximum of $50k? $50,000 for packaging a loan?  I think that would equate to thousands of $$ an hour.  When I was a loan officer the “going commission” on a loan was ½ point (.50% of the loan amount) AND I was very well compensated (I was, I spent a lot of time @ the Los Angeles Jewelry Mart). Loan Officers don’t have a lot of expenses; their job does not require years of higher education.


***NOTE - SEE DOWNEY’S PAY OPTION ARM RATE SHEET. SEE BOTTOM. THEY LIMIT THE BROKER COMMISSION TO $50K! NO WONDER THEY ARE IN TROUBLE! This is the program at the heart of the Alt-A meltdown.