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Articles by Ryan Chittum | Email the Author

 

1. The Audit

   Bill Black, Media Critic

   October 21, 2010 06:44 PM

   Now here's a lede The Audit can get behind: If it wasn’t already blindingly obvious that pervasive fraud was at the heart of the financial crisis and the ensuing foreclosure catastrophe, you would think that the latest news -- that... Continue reading

2. The Audit

   Don’t Be Evil, Google

   October 21, 2010 12:47 PM

   Bloomberg has a superb story out today exposing how tech giants, and particularly Google, are exploiting loopholes to avoid paying taxes overseas. The massively profitable Google is so successful at this that its effective tax rate overseas is a... Continue reading

3. The Audit

   The Plot Thickens at the CFTC

   October 20, 2010 09:37 PM

   Say what? The Washington Post has a brief story reporting that one of two administrative judges at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, in retiring, is accusing his counterpart of saying he would never rule for a plaintiff: "On Judge... Continue reading

4. The Audit

   The Landscape of the Foreclosure Scandal

   October 20, 2010 03:59 PM

   So what does it look like when the foreclosure fraud machine rolls over homeowners who aren't even in default? Remember we've been told by folks like Jamie Dimon and The Wall Street Journal editorial board that such unthinkable... Continue reading

5. The Audit

   Colvin and Fortune’s Big Business Baloney

   October 20, 2010 10:19 AM

   Fortune again. This time it's Geoff Colvin, passing along the Chamber of Commerce line that "Uncertain of future regulation, businesses are paralyzed." He'd have you think that this is much of the reason the economy is struggling. Here's... Continue reading

6. The Audit

   Audit Notes: Feds Sniff Around, Hiltzik on Irani, Robosigners Plus

   October 19, 2010 07:13 PM

   The Washington Post scoops that the feds have opened up a criminal investigation into the foreclosure scandal, "examining whether financial firms broke federal laws when they filed fraudulent court documents to seize people's homes." The Obama administration's Financial Fraud... Continue reading

7. The Audit

   Fortune Writer Steps Up for the Banks

   October 19, 2010 06:34 PM

   I criticized some journalists the other day for perpetuating the silly bank spin that the foreclosure fraud scandal is a mere paperwork problem or ultimately borrowers' fault for defaulting in such enormous numbers. But Duff McDonald has about <a... Continue reading

8. The Audit

   The Journal Hits Facebook Again on Privacy

   October 18, 2010 12:38 PM

   The Wall Street Journal continues its excellent privacy series and unleashes another PR headache for Facebook, which is allowing third-party software companies to access and distribute users' identities. Facebook is scrambling to contain the damage, but it's worth noting... Continue reading

9. The Audit

   Audit Notes: The Clayton Angle, NYT Savvy, AP on Robosigners

   October 15, 2010 07:50 PM

   Felix Salmon and William D. Cohan pound on the Clayton Holdings story, which popped up again last month at a Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission hearing. Clayton is the due-diligence firm hired by Wall Street for reports on... Continue reading

10. The Audit

    The NYT On the Case That Started It All

    October 15, 2010 12:08 PM

    The New York Times has a great angle on the foreclosure scandal: Go back to the homeowner that broke it wide open. Surprisingly, this is the first time this story has really been done. Reuters had a brief... Continue reading

11. The Audit

    Audit Notes: Little Or a Lot, WSJ Hype Fail, Access Problem

    October 14, 2010 09:10 PM

    The Washington Independent's Annie Lowrey calls bull on Jamie Dimon: On the J.P. Morgan Chase earnings call, Dimon promised that there was “almost no chance we made a mistake” with foreclosures. “We think we should continue and get done... Continue reading

12. The Audit

    Why Care About the Banks’ Foreclosure Scandal?

    October 14, 2010 08:09 PM

    The pushback on the foreclosure scandal has already begun along predictable lines and amongst the usual suspects. It's blame the borrowers all over again! Time to wheel out Rick Santelli's "losers." According to variations of this spin,... Continue reading

13. The Audit

    The FT Gets Into the Game on Foreclosures

    October 14, 2010 01:12 PM

    The Financial Times has a good piece of reporting on page one of today's paper that advances the ball on the foreclosure scandal. Up to now, Wells Fargo and Citigroup have been conspicuous among too-big-to-fail banks for keeping its... Continue reading

14. The Audit

    Audit Notes: Foreclosure Mess, Wall Street, Dummies

    October 13, 2010 08:01 PM

    The New York Observer's Max Abelson has done some of the better reporting on How Wall Street Thinks. It's "let them hang themselves with their own rope" reporting. I love that stuff. As Abelson points out in a new... Continue reading

15. The Audit

    What About Lending Fraud?

    October 13, 2010 01:57 PM

    Bloomberg News does what I wish more of the press would do when reporting this foreclosure scandal story: Ask what happened on the front end of the loan process, too. It reports from Tampa on how the scandal is... Continue reading

16. The Audit

    Audit Notes: Hamster Wheel: Chile; Carney, Ritholtz on the Foreclosure Scandal

    October 12, 2010 07:44 PM

    The Wall Street Journal just bragged (I think) on Twitter that "We have three reporters at the San Jose mine in Chile, and they're liveblogging the rescue operation." It's unfortunate that the Journal is pouring prescious journalistic resources into... Continue reading

17. The Audit

    The Press Bats Down Obama’s Chamber Smears

    October 12, 2010 05:50 AM

    It looks like the Democrats and Obama are trying to ape part of the campaign playbook perfected by Republicans: the fake scandal a la Swift Boat Veterans, the New Black Panther Party, and ACORNgate. Find a hot-button... Continue reading

18. The Audit

    Audit Notes: U6 Hits 17.1 Percent, Facebook, “Inside Job”

    October 8, 2010 07:49 PM

    Unemployment seems bad enough when you look at the headlines talking about 9.6 percent. But here's a headline at the Daily Kos that shows a different degree of awfulness. Crunch. Another rotten jobs report. U6 surges to 17.1% Leave... Continue reading

19. The Audit

    The Journal Trails Badly on the Foreclosure Scandal

    October 8, 2010 03:37 PM

    So we've got a nationwide scandal in the still-crippled industry that caused the crisis in the first place—a scandal with potentially systemic (meaning crisis-causing) implications. And how has our leading financial newspaper covered it? Well it hasn't, really. Not... Continue reading

20. The Audit

    The Foreclosure Scandal Begins to Hit Home

    October 8, 2010 01:36 AM

    If you still doubt that the burgeoning foreclosure scandal is going to have nasty consequences for the economy and the financial system, take a look at this New York Times story this morning. It reports from the center of... Continue reading

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