Twelve years into the 21st century, the dominant financial and economic fact is that we are still living in the wake of athe vast housing and mortgage bubble, which peaked in mid-2006, almost six years ago.  

From the perspective of the corporate profit and loss statement, a trading loss is one expense item in the context of all revenues and expenses. So $2 billion should be compared to the bank's $26.7 billion in pretax profits for 2011, suggesting a reduction of something less than 10 percent in annual profit.

Long-term trends in the evolution of banks help explain the bubbles in both commercial and residential real estate credit, increasing bank failures, and the insolvency of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

At this event, our panel of experts will share their thoughts on Bubble Trouble.

The Shadow Financial RegulatoryCommittee supports the federal banking authorities" jointly issued Guidance on "Concentrations in Commercial Real Estate Lending."

The Federal Reserveneeds to keep moving cautiously on tightening over the year because the housing slowdown will probably arrive suddenly as speculative sentiment dies.

Over time, more realtors are likely to switch from playing political hardball to competing on the merits--by offering a more attractive menu of services at the lowest possible price.

An economic analysis of the residential real estate brokerage industry and suggestions for improving brokerage services.