Detailing How the Rest of TARP Will Get Spent (Plus, Judges & Mortgage Modifications)

We like to highlight just one article a day, but today there are two out there you need to read. The first is Manu Raju's story in Politico revealing that the Obama administration is willing to detail how the second half of the TARP funds (the remaining $350 billion) will get spent. The other is the Wall Street Journal's Amir Efrati's and Jennifer Forsyth's reporting on Federal bankruptcy judges feeling ready to step in and modify mortgages.

Here's why you care about TARP: As we noted in our futures calendar for this week (Next Week's News Today), Financial Services Cmte. Chairman, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), will hold a hearing examining the use of TARP funds tomorrow. It was already important because on Friday he put out a proposed bill to modify TARP. Now, that hearing could be the place where some of the details come out. Maybe not, but we bet he's interested, and you should be too. After all, it is your money.

Here's why you care about judges modifying mortgages: The Efrati/Forsyth article does a solid job of outlining both sides of the argument as to whether judges should get involved. You can bet ears on Wall Street perked up when they saw this in the Journal because of the massive amount of money involved. The implications are big, both for lenders and borrowers. We could outline the pros/cons, but we'd just be repeating the solid reporting here, so go read this article and be smart. One note, the term cramdown is used. Just think loan modification to keep it very simple.