Tag Archives: The Powell Perspective


Real Estate Wrap-up and the RIA

Residential Real Estate  There are dozens of reasons why the residential real estate market bubbled and exploded, causing the ensuing credit crisis and economic strife. The popularity of loans requiring no documentation, the easy access to sub-prime loans and the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates low all intertwined to fuel the housing crisis. The housing bubble was also […]

Thomas J. Powell – Reasonable Regulation: That’s Allstate’s Stand

Reasonable Regulation: That’s Allstate’s Stand             Many companies involved in financial services cower when an official of any stature mentions the threat of national regulation, but Allstate has decided to embrace it. Since late April, Allstate has been pushing an advertising campaign that is rooted in support for creating a national regulation agency for all players in the financial industry, […]

Cash for Clunkers Part II: Dealers Have Clunkers, No Cash

Cash for Clunkers Part II: Dealers Have Clunkers, No Cash             In last week’s first Cash for Clunkers installment, Cash for Clunkers Part I: Good for Businesses?, I discussed the potential threat the program poses for small businesses. This week I am presenting Part II.             Auto dealers across the country have been accepting qualified jalopies from consumers in exchange […]

Learning To Trust Real Estate Again * Ally Bank * California’s Ongoing Challenges

Once Bitten: Learning to Trust Real Estate Again The housing bust burned real-estate investors. Even more frightening, many investors were blindsided by the bust because “credible” officials as high up as then -Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan were convincing them housing was immune to speculative bubbling. At some point, however, investors will be wise to forgive the real-estate market and […]

There’s A Czar For That Too * Our Trade Deficit Answer * California’s Mortgage Protection Plan

Yeah, There’s a Czar for That It is beginning to appear that the job of high-up elected officials is simply to hire others to oversee the issues we elected them to solve. President Obama has appointed a czar for nearly every significant issue that faces his administration. According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, “Republican Sen. John McCain […]

Loan Modifications * Recession Proof * Recovery Timing

Subprime Lenders, Transformed With shady subprime-lending practices behind us, former subprime lenders have been forced to put their devious skills to work elsewhere. The complexities of loan modifications have attracted many ex-lending predators and provided them a vehicle to employ their corruption. Now no one is saying that each and every person involved in loan modification is corrupt. In that […]

The New “R” Word: Reset

The New “R” Word: Reset Over the past 18 months, we have been inundated with bleak tales of economic strife. Inevitably, the media has worn us all thin with their never-ending string of bad news. Yes, we are stuck in the thick of a very painful recession. Unemployment rates are flirting with double digits, fears of inflation are beginning to […]

Putting Money Back To Work

Mr Money – Unemployed A Slice of Real Estate Pie             Investors know that building a solid portfolio involves striking a balance between producing high returns and protecting the portfolio’s assets. The underlying factor in both of these is risk. However, our desire to manage risk does not mean we need to sacrifice high returns, and that is the beauty […]