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The days when a bank issued a mortgage and held onto it for the life of that loan ended long ago. Mortgages had become huge profit-generators for investment banks, which bought the loans from other banks and non-bank lenders, packaged them together, sliced them up, and sold them as securities. In theory, as long as homeowners paid their mortgages, these securitized loan investments, also known as structured products, were relatively safe. But, theory and practice were two very different things.
Investors Take A Gamble They Believe Is Safe
Investors from Wall Street to Warsaw bought the securities with little or no knowledge they contained pieces of toxic loans made to high-risk borrowers--- loans that could default on homes that could go into foreclosure.
» Explanation Of A Mortgage Backed Security
» Mortgage Backed Securities Generate Profits
» U.S. Housing And The Gamble Of Subprime Loans
» Investment Banks Dip Heavily Into MBS Market
» Subprime Still Dominates Markets, Banking
» The Future Of Securitization
» Investment Banks' Role In Promoting CDOs
» Explanation Of A Mortgage Backed Security
» Mortgage Backed Securities Generate Profits
» U.S. Housing And The Gamble Of Subprime Loans
» Investment Banks Dip Heavily Into MBS Market
» Subprime Still Dominates Markets, Banking
» The Future Of Securitization
» Investment Banks' Role In Promoting CDOs
Ratings Agencies Provide Misleading Grades
Why didn’t investors at home and abroad know about the dangers of these securities? Because credit rating agencies gave them high grades, in many cases the valuable and respected AAA rating.
» SEC Pushes For Stronger Oversight Of Credit Rating Agencies
» Rotten Mortgage Securities Given Healthy Ratings
» SEC Pushes For Stronger Oversight Of Credit Rating Agencies
» Rotten Mortgage Securities Given Healthy Ratings
AIG Builds Risky Insurance Business
And, just in case something did go wrong with those securities, some investors bought insurance policies called Credit Default Swaps, issued by companies such as AIG. A CDS guaranteed an investor would not lose money, even on the riskiest asset, assuring a payment even if the underlying security defaulted. And by 2005, with expectations that home values would continue rising and homeowners would continue making their mortgage payments, AIG believed the CDS business was fail-safe.
» Defining A Credit Default Swap
» Understanding A Credit Derivative
» AIG's Dangerous Credit Default Swaps
» Credit Default Swaps Predicted To Spur Credit Freeze
» Defining A Credit Default Swap
» Understanding A Credit Derivative
» AIG's Dangerous Credit Default Swaps
» Credit Default Swaps Predicted To Spur Credit Freeze
International Appetite Grows For Mortgage Securities
As demand by consumers for mortgages continued to grow, so did demand by institutional investors for mortgage-backed securities. The most common form: Collateralized Debt Obligations, known as CDOs. Flush with billions, hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds gobbled up these CDOs. But the AAA credit ratings that helped lure investors were deceiving. They masked the underlying risk of those securitized subprime mortgages. One former Moody’s analyst says it was easy to “turn crap into Triple A.”
» Defining A CDO
» Issuance Of CDOs Make A Comeback
» The Perceived Strength Of Structured Products
Reward Turns Into Risk
Several years later, in July 2007, Standard & Poor’s would downgrade billions in mortgage backed securities. In announcing the changes, S&P admitted it misjudged the risk of those products.
» Triple-A Credit Ratings Backbone Of MBS Market
» S&P Forecasts Big Losses After It Slashes MBS Ratings
» Triple-A Credit Ratings Backbone Of MBS Market
» S&P Forecasts Big Losses After It Slashes MBS Ratings
Fannie And Freddie Join The Party
Prior to the downgrade and the cloud that eventually hung over subprime securities, even Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, once known for buying the safest kind of mortgages, got into the game. Following an accounting scandal that temporarily slowed down their mortgage-buying business between 2003-2005, Fannie and Freddie felt compelled to compete with Wall Street for a share of all those subprime loans being sold by their originators. So Fannie and Freddie lowered their standards, just as the lenders had done. They began buying lesser-quality mortgages, including subprime loans, exactly the kind they avoided years earlier.
» Bush Boasts Of Home Ownership In 2004 State Of The Union
» Greenspan Suggests Alternative Mortgages
» Lack Of Oversight For Fannie, Freddie
» Fannie, Freddie Cut Credit Requirements
» Bush Boasts Of Home Ownership In 2004 State Of The Union
» Greenspan Suggests Alternative Mortgages
» Lack Of Oversight For Fannie, Freddie
» Fannie, Freddie Cut Credit Requirements
Uncle Sam’s Subprime Surprise
The federal government, which created and supported Fannie and Freddie, had now gone into the subprime mortgage business. And eventually, taxpayers would pay a severe price.
» Analysis Of Bernanke's Testimony Before The Senate Banking Committee
» Congress Left To Clean Up Subprime Casualties
» Analysis Of Bernanke's Testimony Before The Senate Banking Committee
» Congress Left To Clean Up Subprime Casualties
Inflating The Bubble
Tech bubbles, housing bubbles and future bubbles. CNBC anchors and reporters discuss why bubbles are never going away and share their insights on how the housing bubble blew up.
