Luke 532

Treasury's Mnuchin: We're 'pretty close' to bringing forward 'major tax reform' http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/20/treasurys-mnuchin-were-pretty-close-to-bringing-forward-major-tax-reform.html Julia La Roche‏ @SallyPancakes 6m6 minutes ago Mnuchin says he's 'very focused' on housing reform, noting Fannie/Freddie still in govt. control. $FNMA $FMCC Julia La Roche‏ @SallyPancakes 9m9 minutes ago Mnuchin says tax reform will get done regardless of health care reform. Julia La Roche‏ @SallyPancakes Mnuchin says No. 1 priority is economic growth achieved through tax reform, regulatory reform, housing reform, and cyber security.

Impressively thorough. Thanks to contributors like the ROLG, my appreciation for the talents necessary to operate at the top of the legal profession have gone to the moon. +1

Fannie And Freddie: An Unconstitutionally Structured FHFA And Voiding Net Worth Sweep by Rule of Law Guy https://seekingalpha.com/article/4063316-fannie-freddie-unconstitutionally-structured-fhfa-voiding-net-worth-sweep#alt2

Only on a few questions that the court didn't clearly address, such as the contractural claims' purchase timing. Thanks.

Perry panel rehearing (attached)? Perry_rehearing_4-18-2017.pdf

I'm curious how many documents the government provided to plaintiff lawyers by the April 14th deadline. I'm aware of the unopposed extension granted by Sweeney to review/produce the final 50-60% of documents, but wondering how many, if any, of the 40-50% already reviewed were given to plaintiff lawyers. I would expect Fairholme to file something with the court if nothing had been produced by the deadline. I guess there's no way of knowing at this point.

link... https://www.ft.com/content/2e48c5bc-238c-11e7-8691-d5f7e0cd0a16

Article from UVA Law Professor Sai Prakash... Ruling On CFPB Could Upend Controversial Net Worth Sweep https://www.law360.com/articles/913454/ruling-on-cfpb-could-upend-controversial-net-worth-sweep

I recommend reading (or re-reading) Chapter 8 of The Intelligent Investor.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-threatens-to-withhold-payments-to-insurers-to-press-democrats-on-health-bill-1492029844?mod=e2tw In an interview in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump said the executive branch may lack legal authority to make the payments established under his predecessor to reduce copayments and deductibles for some of the poorest customers who buy insurance under the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Cutting off the payments could trigger turmoil in insurance markets.

CHOICE Act 2.0 is out... http://www.housingwire.com/articles/39835-republicans-propose-drastic-overhaul-of-dodd-frank-and-cfpb Interesting that the POTUS will be able to remove Director of FHFA (Watt) at will in version 2.0 of the Financial CHOICE Act. Version 2.0 (new) FHFA Director removable at will by the President. No changes to current law regarding OCC and NCUA. FDIC structure same as CHOICE Version 1.0 (old) Restructured the FHFA and OCC as bipartisan commissions. Reorganized FDIC as a bipartisan commission where all five commissioners are appointed by the President (removes Comptroller of Currency and CFPB Director from Board). Moved NCUA board from three members to five. Here's the PDF: http://www.housingwire.com/ext/resources/images/editorial/BS_ticker/PDF/CHOICE-20-Changes.pdf

Trading on Trumps tweets are Hail Mary's... I bet he doesn't even remember in the evening what he tweeted about in the morning, the ridiculous fact aside that he uses this medium to begin with. Didn't one of the he value guys state in his letter that the he majority of the Millenium generation trades on Trump's tweets? God bless them. Nobody is suggesting anybody trade on somebody's tweets. Besides, you might be mistaking this retweet with that of the POTUS.

Donald Trump, Jr. retweeting about Fannie/Freddie (see attached)...

Ben Carson said bundle housing with infrastructure. I personally don't know what will be in it, was simply relaying what Carson said: http://www.housingwire.com/articles/39757-ben-carson-housing-will-be-part-of-trump-infrastructure-bill?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=housingwire Seems like Trump is keeping all his options open. For reference, here's where I mentioned Carson...

Starts at 35:45 mark in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eupgMc9z1gE&feature=youtu.be

Joshua Rosner will be on Tucker Carlson tonight at 9:40pm to talk GSE's, 11,000 docs, etc.

You are assuming that handling one bill* (Obamacare) is less difficult than tackling two bills (tax reform and infrastructure) simultaneously. It's not as simple as 2 > 1 so, by default, 2 is more difficult. In other words, it is more difficult to earn one $5 bill than it is to earn two $1 bills. *repeal and replace is really dealing with two bills (repealing one, replacing it with another)

That certainly is a possibility. But it would do two things I imagine Mnuchin doesn't want: severing friendships with friends and keeping the lawsuits open and ongoing. He'll lose some political points helping shareholders but I also think the compromising that will take place of advancing infrastructure and tax reform simultaneously will lessen that political hit.

Because the lawsuits are challenging the NWS in 2012 and not the conservatorship in 2008.

So we have Mnuchin mentioning that he expects tax reform to be passed by Congress in August (bill introduced prior to then, so 4 months tops). We know that corporate tax reform will be a part of that. And we know the hit on DTA's for Fannie/Freddie would cause a draw. Trump recently signed an executive order stating no more bailouts so avoiding a draw is important to Trump. We also know the gov't. has a shade under 80% warrants and would make a ton of money on GSE reform that also benefits shareholders. Carson said housing is involved in the infrastructure bill that they are currently working on. We know housing accounts for 20%+ of the American economy and any reform to housing, for any realistic person, has to deal with the Fannie and Freddie issue. It is also going to cost about $1 trillion for the infrastructure plan (partially offset by the gain in warrants that Treasury sells once they appreciate). We also have Calabria saying that a framework is coming "within months." (could be 2 months, could be 11 months, or anywhere in between) Now we're hearing that both infrastructure and tax reform bills might be advanced simultaneously. Introducing both bills simultaneously has deal and compromise written all over it... good 'ol politics. It also seems this will happen within 4 months given Mnuchin's quoted timeframe on tax reform, infrastructure being advanced simultaneously with tax reform, and Calabria's stated timeframe. Couple that with so many people in Trump's camp leaning in a GSE-friendly direction. I know the market disagrees with me, but man this seems like a very attractive investment at current levels (at least the prefs). Report: Trump wants to move tax reform, infrastructure together http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/326046-report-trump-wants-to-move-tax-reform-infrastructure-together

Some action on it would be nice to see. The devil will be in the details, of course.

The article doesn't mention Fannie or Freddie so it probably doesn't pop up on anybody's radar... and the twins might not be included in any of that Carson reform.

http://www.insidemortgagefinance.com/imfnews/1_1076/daily/stan-humphries-of-zillow-says-gse-reform-is-doable-1000040819-1.html?ET=imfpubs:e9111:73599a:&st=email&s=imfnews Short Takes: Fixing the GSEs: A Slam Dunk? / ‘Abundant’ Bipartisan Agreement? Huh? / How Rep. Jeb Gets There By Paul Muolo and Brandon Ivey pmuolo@imfpubs.com, bivey@imfpubs.com To Zillow Group Chief Analytics Officer Stan Humphries, reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac looks like a walk in the park compared to repealing and replacing the nation’s healthcare system. At least that’s what Humphries suggested in a recent blog posting on the real estate company’s website. The CAO and chief economist believes the Republicans' failure to repeal Obamacare “might” make President Trump more willing to work with Democrats. He adds: “I’ve got a shovel-ready project that achieves both of these goals: Fix Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two mortgage giants … that the government took over in 2008 in the midst of the housing market collapse. Why GSE reform? It’s a critical, if under-appreciated, issue affecting most Americans and there’s already abundant bipartisan agreement on the basic outlines …” Wait a second. “Abundant bipartisan agreement” on the basics? Perhaps the Zillow economist has been spending too much of his waking hours analyzing property listings and not enough time paying attention to what Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has been saying the past few years… Then again, we have heard an opinion or two from mortgage lobbyists that Hensarling might be open to some type of government guaranty on MBS, but how he might agree to such an animal has yet to be revealed…

+1

https://www.fms.treas.gov/dts/index.html If you click that link and then select a text file you'll see this at the bottom: Note: The Daily Treasury Statement (DTS) is available by 4:00 p.m. the following business day on the Fiscal Service website www.fms.treas.gov/dts. So, any payments made this quarter would show up at that link in the text file by 4:00 p.m. on Monday. I wouldn't expect anything today.