The metro Detroit area had the highest foreclosure rate among the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas in 2007, RealtyTrac announced Wednesday, in a press release. Stockton, California and Las Vegas, Nevada ranked second and third.

RealtyTrac also released statistics indicating that U.S. foreclosures increased 79.2% in 2007 to 2,203,295, up from 1,774,778 in 2006.

Detroit hard hit

Detroit registered the highest foreclosure rate among the nation's 100 largest metro areas, with close to 5% of its households entering some stage of foreclosure during the year -- 4.8 times the national average and up about 3% from 2006. A total of 72,616 foreclosure filings on 41,273 properties were reported in the Detroit metro area in 2007, up 68% from 2006. The other Michigan metro area with a foreclosure rate in the top 20 was Warren-Farmington Hills-Troy, at No. 17.

Bank of America, Citigroup and other major U.S. banks and lenders announced Tuesday a revised plan to help some borrowers in danger of default remain in their homes.

Encouraged by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the banks will offer a 30-day freeze on foreclosures while loan modifications are considered for borrowers who are at least three months late on payments. The program will include borrowers with prime mortgages, as well as those with poorer credit histories.

Second wave of defaults

The program is being initiated as the United States prepares for the second wave of mortgage defaults as variable mortgages rates reset in 2008. The U.S. Federal Reserve estimates that about two million mortgages will reset to higher rates, with foreclosures expected to soar to one million, absent an intervention. In a typical year, the U.S. has about 500,000-550,000 foreclosures.

As the saying goes, what if you invited everyone to a party and no one showed up?

That's a little like how the U.S. Federal Reserve feels right now. The Fed has lowered benchmark, short-term interest rates substantially - - including 125 basis points of reduction in January 2008 alone - - but so far, banks, stung by subprime losses, have been reluctant to ramp-up lending, CNBC.com reported Monday.

Patience advised

Still, economist David H. Wang took issue with those arguing that the Fed's rate cuts and ongoing term auction facility that haven't worked or weren't needed.

Concerning rate cuts, Wang told BloggingStocks Monday that the banking sector had to work through "a period of loan fright" - - an irrational fear of risk - - that is, in his view, the additive inverse of "the total neglect of risk" that characterized the earlier housing boom.

"Banks need some time to improve their balance sheets. Some may accomplish this through job cuts and by operational cut-back. Many will accomplish this through curtailed lending and tighter lending standards, at least for a short period of time," Wang said. "But in time, lending to businesses and individuals will resume its normal pace."

'Gradualism' vs. shock therapy

Second, the Fed's term auction facility - - which U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has said will remain in operation "for as long as necessary" - - is working. "The term auction facility is doing exactly what it's supposed to do... it's providing short-term loans to banks who need it, who don't want to borrow from the discount window and who can't get the money from other banks who are afraid to lend," Wang said. "And in the process, bank operations are maintained, even as they slowly and gradually digest subprime defaults and related asset write-offs."

And that last point may be the key to understanding the outlook for a resumption of normal lending conditions, he said. Given the size of likely, problematic subprime loans - - some have put the figure at $500 billion - - and the preference for gradualism, it may be two quarters or more before normal lending conditions resume. Further, the correct place to look for the start of increased lending is not the stock market's level, but commercial activity: orders for new equipment, business expansion plans, and job growth / new hiring announcements.

And while some economists argue that it would be better if the financial services sector wrote-off problem loans quicker - - i.e. 'the sooner the better for economy,' Wang does not agree.

"Shock therapy may have worked in Poland's transition from a communist centrally-planned economy to a free-market economy but we're dealing with a magnitude difference in money here," Wang said with chuckle. "The Fed's goal here is to enable banks to gradually work the bad loans out the system, while maintaining the conditions for sustainable economic growth and not causing runaway inflation. And so far, that strategy is working, in my interpretation."

The New York Times DealBook recently asked the question "Should banks take back their bonuses?"

The top investment banks will be paying out a record $39 billion in bonuses for 2007, a year in which most posted massive writedowns on bad subprime loans and saw their share prices shrink precipitously.

Making matters worse, traders and investment bankers earned huge bonuses on deals in past year that have now been written down. The deals weren't valued properly in the first place, but who cares! They already got their bonuses.

At the risk of being inflammatory, I have to tell you: This reminds me of Enron, where executives "marked to market" deals based on hypothetical future profits, paid themselves huge bonuses and, in one case, had cashed out and become the largest landowner in Colorado by the time stuff hit the fan.

The problem with the Wall Street bonus system is that it rewards risk over prudence. The compensation philosophy on Wall Street seems to be "Heads I win, tails I still win, as long as I can convince people it was actually a heads at the time I toss the coin. When they find out it was really a tails in a few years, I'll already have spent my bonus on that mansion in the Hamptons, and the shareholders can jolly well deal with it." Or something.

Until someone has the courage to make some changes in the Wall Street bonus structure, we can expect big blow-ups like this from time to time. As economics teaches us, people respond to incentives, and Wall Streeters are incentivized to take big risks with other people's money.

Ted Allrich is the founder of The Online Investor and author of Comfort Zone Investing: Build Wealth And Sleep Well At Night. In this weekly column, he offers advice to investors who are just getting started.

Subprime loans have been in the headlines, not in a good way. Lenders have lost billions. Homeowners have lost homes. It's a real big problem. But for the lenders the problems may only be starting.

While subprime loans are defaulting, there are loans that weren't subprime when they were made and have been paying regularly. But that may change due to their structure. These loans were made at interest rates below the current market rate, called teaser rates. These teaser rates were written for a year or two or even longer. Once those teaser rates expire, the loan then adjusts upward to current interest rates for home loans.

When the new rates adjust higher, so do the payments. Some homeowners won't be able to afford the new payment schedule. The actual number of those is unknown until the end of each month, when the payments are due and aren't made. While interest rates are moving downward at the moment, they may not move down far enough to help these borrowers. That means more mortgages may default over the next several months or years as the teaser rates become current. Only time will tell how many that will be. Not even the lenders know how bad this problem is since there's no way to estimate how many borrowers will stop paying.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) announced Monday it closed a $12 billion, enhanced money fund after major clients pulled-out amid losses on complex asset-back securities, including structured investment vehicles, Bloomberg News reported.

The Columbia Strategic Cash Portfolio was closed last week and is being "wound down," Bank of America spokesman Robert Stickler told Bloomberg News. Sticker said the fund's net asset value, which had been $33 billion two weeks ago, was 99.4 cents on the dollar as of Monday.

There are days when the U.S. Federal Reserve probably feels like it's part of a well-researched, coordinated public policy effort to both keep the U.S. economy growing at an acceptable rate with low inflation, and serve as an engine for global growth. Then there are days like today, when the Fed undoubtedly feels like it's out there on its own, like that well-known bald eagle -- a solitary guardian amid ever-present risks and dangers.

The Fed meets December 11 to decide whether to continue to ease monetary policy. The consensus among economists and Wall Street analysts is that the Fed will lower key short-term interest rates by a quarter-percentage point to 4.5%, with some analysts predicting a half-percentage point cut by the Fed.

In an effort to stimulate domestic demand amid a U.S. economy slowed by subprime mortgage defaults, the Fed has twice lowered key interest rates this year, cutting the Fed funds rate -- the rate banks charge each other -- to 4.50%, and the discount rate -- the rate the Fed charges banks for short-term loans -- to 5.00%.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Janet Yellen is on the wires again, becoming the latest Fed governor to note that the U.S.'s economic slowdown is bigger than she expected, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.

Last week Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Vice Chairman Donald Kohn also noted that credit market woes fed by subprime mortgage and related asset defaults tipped the scales toward 'the downside risks to growth.'

Yellen said recent data on retail sales and consumer spending were not that encouraging, Bloomberg News reported.

On the heels of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments on "renewed turbulence," many traders and investors across sectors now expect the Fed to cut key short-term interest rates when it meets on December 11, according to one currency trader.

"I won't give you all the technical indicators, but basically almost all of them are pointing to a rate cut by the Fed when it meets [on December 11]," Currency Trader Andrew Resnick told BloggingStocks Friday. "The issue now is whether the Fed continues to cut after the December meeting."

Markets rally

Stock rallied early Friday on Bernanke's comments, with the Dow gaining over 80 points to about 13,394 and the Nasdaq gaining about 4 points to 2,674. Meanwhile, the dollar gained slightly, improving to $1.4730 against the euro and rising to 111.07 yen against the Japanese yen.

"Typically, when the Fed indicates it's likely to cut rates that causes the dollar to fall, but in this case, the market is saying 'The Fed is going to help the [U.S.] economy grow faster,' which is bullish for the dollar," Resnick said. Resnick added that he was flat - - or had no currency positions - on Friday.

The New York Times reports that the Dow lost 360 points -- or 2.64% -- back to where it was before Ben Bernanke cut the Federal Funds Rate an unexpectedly large 50 basis points. My message to Bernanke is that cutting rates just to keep the market from falling is not a winning strategy.

The Fed is supposed to keep inflation in check, and it's failing at that job. How so? At $96.37, the price of oil is near an unprecedented $100, and gasoline prices -- which blessedly dropped during the fall -- are poised to rise about 50% to $4.50 a gallon, just as people step up their driving during the holidays. On January 19, 2001, oil was $24 a barrel -- it has since quadrupled. Meanwhile, the cost of heating a home is hitting a record -- $3.05 a gallon for home heating oil in Massachusetts. It may be higher elsewhere.

Then there's the little problem that the Fed has engendered through its rate cuts -- a dollar that's plunging like a knife. Relative to the euro, the dollar has lost 13% from $1.30 at the beginning of January 2007, to its current $1.47. And since January 19, 2001, the dollar has lost 60% of its value! Back then, one euro bought 92 cents. In addition to Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen, China is now seeking to switch from the dollar to the euro. So the dollar drop is feeding on itself.

In case you haven't been paying attention, home sales and mortgage situations are a little touchy in the U.S. right now. Mortgage holders continue to default on their loans, subprime borrowers are no longer able to get loans (at least not with the same favorable terms), financial companies are writing down billions of dollars in losses from backing shoddy mortgages, Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) and Citigroup (NYSE: C) have fired their CEOs and home prices are down in many parts of the country.

In other words, the nightmare surrounding the housing and mortgage market is taking a toll in many areas. But if the U.S. can cut its home inventories (using several methods, I suppose), then that alone may be the key to stabilizing financial systems here in the U.S. and in the rest of the world. At least according to former Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan. Still, it's quite a mighty prediction, right?

Greenspan connected the subprime lending situation to international financial systems and said that the way to self-correct this system would to be somehow get rid of 200,000 to 300,000 housing units in active sales inventory in the U.S. at this time. He also warned against trying to keep down "asset bubbles" as he spoke to a business leader's forum from Washington. Greenspan also referred to the global economy, saying it is "doing well."

So, is Greenspan right? Can all the excess homes now in the market as a result of the mortgage overextension and lending crisis be sold? Can this clear the air of economic concerns as the housing and mortgage crises are rolling over into other industries and even nations? He's been right before ... many times.

One day after cutting key short-term interest rates, the U.S. Federal Reserve, in a surprise move, added $41 billion in liquidity to the markets, The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported Thursday.

The Fed used three separate operations to inject the $41 billion, in the largest injection of funds since the August 2007 credit/liquidity crisis, The Journal reported.

Fed Analysis: At first glance, the Fed's $41 billion infusion may seem contradictory, given Wednesday's mild quarter-point interest rate cut and accompanying statement that appeared to lay the ground for a monetary easing "pause" at its next meeting in December.

Still, a more careful read reveals that these slightly divergent actions are complementary and nothing new for the Fed. With Wednesday's statement the Fed signaled that U.S. GDP growth is adequate (but not robust), and that the markets are functioning well, while also noting the Fed remains on guard for price pressures. Thursday's $41 billion infusion signals that the Fed, nevertheless, also remains ready to ensure the proper function of the markets, should additional credit market disturbances surface in the weeks and months ahead. In sum, it's a classic, nuanced, two-step by the Fed: it's ready to implement a rate cut pause if the economy gains momentum, but simultaneously ready to add liquidity, should conditions warrant.

With its quarter-percentage point cut Wednesday in the fed funds rate to 4.50% and the discount rate to 5.00%, the Fed appeared to tilt slightly against another interest rate cut in December.

In its statement, the Fed said "economic growth was solid in the third quarter" and that strains on financial markets had eased somewhat on balance. The Fed added that today's action "combined with the policy action taken in September, should help forestall some of the adverse effects on the broader economy."

Fed Analysis: The above suggests that Chairman Ben Bernanke and the Fed are laying the groundwork for an end to the Fed's brief easing of monetary policy, if in fact the U.S. economy grows at an acceptable rate or inflation accelerates. The economy has slowed through 2007, but on Tuesday Q3 GDP unexpectedly accelerated to 3.9%, the U.S. Commerce Department announced, up from 3.8% in Q2. It's quite likely Tuesday's Q3 GDP statistic influenced the Fed -- swiping away any notion of a half-percentage-point, or 50 basis point, reduction in short-term rates. Further, while monetary policy doves will argue that the sub-prime mortgage and sluggish housing sector headwinds remain, monetary policy hawks -- or those who believe the Fed does not need to cut rates further -- can argue that the Fed has two GDP data points, Q2 and Q3, which indicate that the U.S. economy is growing at a sufficient rate, and that the Fed can now keep interest rates where they are, absent new evidence of a slowing economy, in the quarters ahead.

Managing Director Bill Gross, who manages the world's biggest bond fund for Pacific Investment Management Company, wrote in a report published on the firm's web site, that he expects the U.S. Federal Reserve to lower key interest rates to 3.50% to avoid a U.S. recession.

Wall Street may interpret lower interest rates as good news for stocks, long-term, but that will not be the case with the U.S. dollar. Along with the current account, and investment performance in a particular country, a major factor in a currency's strength is the interest paid on deposits. Generally, currencies with high interest rates are valued higher than currencies with low interest rates, all other factors being equal.

Countrywide (NYSE:CFC), a U.S. home mortgage lender, is down .92 to $19.18. According to Dow Jones Source; From CFC's Chairman of the Board Angelo R Mozilo sold 139,918 shares at $20.14 for a value of $2,818,368 on 10/8/07 after exercising 139,918 shares for $9.94 for value of $1,390,785 on 10/8/07. CFC November option implied volatility of 68 is above its 26-week average of 59 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

US Airways (NYSE: LCC) is recently up .95 to $31.52. Goldman Sachs upgraded LCC to Buy from Neutral and raised its price target to $36 from $33. LCC over all option implied volatility of 57 is above its 26-week average of 52 according to Track Data, suggesting slightly larger risks.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.