CNBC analyst Jim Cramer recently took on the media for highlighting the risks of ARM reset loans. (See Cramer blog dated August 28: "Housing is back, despite media worries.")

Although I disagree with his conclusion about housing, I do agree with him that the ARM mortgage problem has been minimized...

Is the Great Recession over? Housing prices in 18 of the 20 markets tracked by the Case-Shiller S&P Housing Report are up. President Obama has re-nominated Chairman Bernanke to maintain continuity at the Fed. Financial commentators (see Time Magazine and USA Today) are even suggesting it's time to buy a...

Yesterday's New York Times reported on homeowners being pushed out of their homes by companies that buy tax liens.

First a little background. A tax lien is an encumbrance placed on a piece of real property to secure unpaid real estate taxes due to a town, city or county. These...

News from the retail world is not good. Sales midway into the back-to-school period are trending significantly lower than this time last year. In fact, last year sales were up 1% (over the prior year) and this year the projection is that sales will be down 3% - 4%.

So,...

As has been trumpeted in the media of late (see front page of yesterday's USA Today), the percentage of U.S. families owning their own home is down from a high of about 70% two years ago to about 67% today. Economists expect the rate of ownership to keep falling. Is...

Over the last five years I have written books and lectured around the country about the real estate and credit industries -- particularly those sectors that apply to consumers.

And I have had an up close and personal vantage point to observe (and reflect on) whether there is any merit...

The government's Public-Private Investment Program has not been a success.

The original idea of the PPIP (at least most acronyms can be pronounced ... how do you say this one?) was to encourage private capital to purchase toxic mortgage products from banks. In order to do this the government...

One of the big topics in Washington right now is whether the United States needs a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The Administration says "yes" -- the logic being that consumers have been taken advantage of by mortgage and credit card lenders and therefore need an agency that fights just for...

The Federal Reserve has just proposed new consumer protections for home mortgages and home equity loans. Perhaps the timing has something to do with the Fed's objection to the creation of a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA).

The Fed's proposed regulations are generally about disclosures. It believes that...

The stock market reacted very favorably yesterday to, among other factors, housing numbers which revealed a 3d consecutive month of increased numbers of home sales.

But, when one pulls the curtain back on this statistic, there is still a tremendous amount of cause for worry.

What is happening in the...

The Obama Administration has just submitted to Congress a 150-page proposal for the establishment of a Consumer Finance Protection Agency. As expected, banks and financial companies of all types are in strong opposition.

The intent of this agency is to centralize the oversight and regulation of financial products offered...

I have now tracked the housing crisis carefully for several years. I have read twenty books on the subject, hundreds of articles and spoken with tons of experts. So, I feel that I have the standing to opine on the #1 lesson to take from the housing mess.

And...

Last week I attended a conference about the housing crisis in Washington, D.C. Speakers included several senior Administration officials and members of Congress.

I learned what the government is doing and thinking.

Here was my take on what I heard:

The people handling the government's approach to the...

Lately I have been blogging about the sneaky business tricks I have seen over the years.

Here are my top five for attorneys:

1. Stealing money from escrow accounts - so sneaky it is illegal. Very rare but happens. All states have programs (funded by the attorneys in the state)...

Lately I have been blogging about the sneaky tricks business - about how businesses deceive people. The comments to my posts have been wonderful - with addenda and new ideas to add to my various lists. I was particularly thrilled when one comment suggested:

"This should...

I have started to keep a list of the sneaky stuff that businesses do to transfer money from my pocket to theirs. Here are the five that reached my list this month:

1. Credit card notifications that come in nondescript, junk-mail looking envelopes. Last month my wife's credit card company...

THE MISSING PIECE IN THE FORECLOSURE SOLUTION

Notwithstanding a lot of attention, creativity and money, no one has yet to solve the foreclosure crisis engulfing our country. Amidst signs of improvement in other areas (the stock market, the thawing of the credit markets), we see nothing hopeful on the...

About 5 million young adults are graduating from U.S. colleges this month. This rite of passage is perhaps a parent's last chance to instill important lessons about the business world. What words of advice would you give?

Here are my suggestions:

1. "Do not confuse the familiar with the universal"...

I think that U.S. taxpayers have a real gripe when they consider how they are bailing out the reckless (and feckless) banking system.

Here are five ways Washington reached out to help our banker friends:

1. The most obvious is the TARP money which kept banks afloat when they...

If you are the parent or uncle or aunt or friend of a young adult -- meaning anyone 18-20 -- who will be attending college this fall, you should strongly suggest they get a credit card. Why this advice which flies in the face of the current anti-credit card groundswell?