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The Institutional Risk Analyst
© 2003-2025 | Whalen Global Advisors LLC All Rights Reserved in All Media | ISSN 2692-1812
Banks | Markets | Finance

Update: Our Top Five Ideas
How will the sudden shift in Fed policy impact financials? Are we headed for a recession?
R. Christopher Whalen
Sep 24, 20246 min read
654 views

Recession? Consumer Lenders: AX, AXP, ALLY, Barclays, COF, SOFI, SYF
Axos continues to rebound after the bear raid by Hindenburg Research. AX ranked 18th in the WGA Bank Top Index in Q3 2024 vs 98th for SOFI
R. Christopher Whalen
Sep 2, 202412 min read
722 views

Debt Deflation in CRE? PFSI, COOP & RKT
If the run-of-the-mill Republic First interest rate mark is 13.3% of assets that is not just wiping out one bank’s 8% capital but also FDIC
R. Christopher Whalen
May 5, 20249 min read
692 views


Update: UWMC & Rocket; Rate Cut Dreams Fade
Industry leaders believe that the FHFA wants the GSEs to offer issuers "repurchase insurance" to the tune of 25bps per loan.
R. Christopher Whalen
Feb 29, 20247 min read
587 views

Update: PennyMac Financial Services
If we are marking balance sheet assets to actual market in the age of deflation, what of the heavily modeled world of servicing assets?
R. Christopher Whalen
Nov 1, 20236 min read
511 views

Update: Mortgage Lenders, TBA Contango & MSRs
We look for lower prices for legacy MBS and MSRs as new allocations are used up and P&Ls sink deeper into the red...
R. Christopher Whalen
Jun 26, 20238 min read
1,106 views


RKT Sinks, UWMC Wobbles, RITM Treads Water & Goldman Doubles Down
GS is a securities dealer first and foremost and has no comparative advantage as a bank.
R. Christopher Whalen
Mar 2, 20236 min read
900 views


The Year That Was: 2022
Many in the Buy Side chorus are looking forward to lower interest rates, but we are concerned that next year could really be about solvency
R. Christopher Whalen
Dec 16, 20226 min read
627 views

Record Losses for Mortgage Banks Presage Tough Year Ahead
Is 2023 the year of the Return of the Distressed Loan Trade?
R. Christopher Whalen
Nov 19, 20221 min read
543 views

TIAA Sells Everbank; Mortgage Earnings Wrap
The big news this week starts with the poor showing by Rocket Companies (RKT), reporting a loss for Q3 2022 and a big decline in volumes.
R. Christopher Whalen
Nov 4, 20225 min read
311 views


No End to Conservatorship for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will likely sit in conservatorship indefinitely unless and until Congress acts first.
R. Christopher Whalen
Aug 17, 20226 min read
1,400 views

Memo to Gary Gensler: Beware the “Non-Controlling Interest”
As a result of the adoption of "artificial intelligence," the 21st Century investor is mostly a victim in waiting.
R. Christopher Whalen
Jun 6, 20226 min read
1,290 views


Update: HMPT, RKT, NRZ & UPST
UPST has seen its valuation cut by 60% since March of last year, when its common equity traded at a mere 31x book value.
R. Christopher Whalen
Feb 25, 20227 min read
314 views

Update: Blend Labs, Guild Mortgage and United Wholesale Mortgage
To paraphrase our friend and fellow mortgage maven Rob Chrisman, ponder a 2022 lending market that’s 75% purchases and just 4.79 million uni
R. Christopher Whalen
Nov 12, 20216 min read
344 views

Update: Rocket Companies, PennyMac Financial Services & Home Point
When issuers like RKT and PFSI are paying up for servicing assets, you know that the secondary loan market is getting tougher by the day.
R. Christopher Whalen
Nov 8, 20216 min read
367 views

Interview: Lee Smith, Flagstar Bank
We expect to see a lot more M&A activity over the next 12 – 18 months, as that’s the only way for some players to grow share.
R. Christopher Whalen
Aug 23, 20217 min read
828 views


Fed Chairman Jay Powell as RobinHood
There is, after all, no free lunch for investors when the Fed is serving the thin meal of Financial Repression
R. Christopher Whalen
Aug 19, 20216 min read
523 views

Update: Rocket Companies and United Wholesale Mortgage
Growing numbers of investors are burned by mortgage stocks. Big question: Will the industry snap back due to now falling interest rates?
R. Christopher Whalen
Aug 16, 20215 min read
403 views

Update: Mr. Cooper & New Residential Investment
The big surge in income and net worth caused by the FOMC last year is rapidly ending. Winter has returned to mortgage land...
R. Christopher Whalen
Aug 9, 20215 min read
588 views

Profile: Blend Labs, Inc ("BLND")
Is BLND worth more than RKT, or entrenched data monopolies and solution providers such as BKI or even CLGX?
R. Christopher Whalen
Jun 30, 20217 min read
879 views
Christopher Whalen
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