Daily Dose

Should banks actually be allowed to fail? Well, the “big, dumb” ones should, according to JPMorgan Chase chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, who on Wednesday blasted the institutionalized belief that mega-dollar bailouts for badly run banks is good for the economy.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday to pass an amendment eliminating the use of guarantee fees on mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to fund a controversial $47 billion transportation bill known as H.R. 22, or the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy (DRIVE) Act

Though Fannie Mae was profitable in Q3, the Enterprise’s net income and comprehensive income both declined by more than 50 percent from the previous quarter when it reported totals of $4.6 billion and $4.4 billion, respectively. The decline in net income was primarily due to fair value losses which were partially offset by credit-related income.

Despite rising shares of homebuyers age 50 and over and shrinking percentages of homeowners ages 35 to 50 and under 30, the median age of homebuyers has remained “remarkably steady” in the last decade.

Freddie Mac’s risk-sharing initiatives include 16 STACR debt note offerings (including this one) and 11 Agency Credit Insurance Structure (ACIS) transactions since becoming the first agency to market credit risk transfer transactions with STACR and ACIS in the middle of 2013.

The distressed sales share, which includes sales of REO properties and short sales, was reported to be 9.3 percent for August 2015, down 2.3 percentage points from August 2014. August’s distressed sales share of 9.3 percent is the lowest since September 2007 and is less than a third off from its peak in January 2009, when it made up nearly a third of total residential home sales (32.4 percent).

Interest rates nearly took center stage in this banking testimony as Chair Yellen noted that the domestic economy is “pretty strong” and the “gradual rise in rates should not derail the housing market. Employment is going up, income is going up, and If the labor market improves, inflation will move up. December sounds incrementally more likely, but hinges on jobs reports.”

The bills were directed at improving transparency and accountability of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), an agency created out of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.

The CFPB has authority under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 to supervise banks and credit unions with assets totaling more than $10 billion, along with certain nonbanks that include mortgage companies, payday lenders, private student lenders, and other nonbanks the CFPB has determined to be “large participants” in the financial market.

A district judge refused to revive the case in September 2013 based on allegations by the DOJ, saying that the outcome of the case would not have been changed by new information brought up about representations made by S&P to investors.