Lots of news on the Lisa Cook firing today! Apparently she told her Georgia mortgagor that it was a vacation home:
A loan estimate for an Atlanta home purchased by Lisa Cook, the Federal Reserve governor accused of mortgage fraud by the Trump administration, shows that Cook had declared the property as a “vacation home,” according to a document reviewed by Reuters.
The document, dated May 28, 2021, was issued to Cook by her credit union in the weeks before she completed the purchase and shows that she had told the lender that the Atlanta property wouldn’t be her primary residence. The document appears to counter other documentation that Cook’s critics have cited in support of their claims that she committed mortgage fraud by reporting two different homes as her primary residence, two independent real-estate experts said.
…
Reuters was unable to determine whether Pulte or administration officials are aware of Cook’s Atlanta loan estimate. Spokespeople at the FHFA, the agency led by Pulte, didn’t respond to a request for comment.The documents cited by Pulte include standardized federal mortgage paperwork which stipulates that each loan obtained by Cook for the Atlanta and Michigan properties is meant for a “primary residence.” But documentation reviewed by Reuters for the Atlanta home, filed with a court in Georgia’s Fulton County, clearly says the stipulation exists “unless Lender otherwise agrees in writing.” The loan estimate, a document prepared by the credit union, states “Property Use: Vacation Home.”
…
In another point that could help Cook’s case, she never requested a tax exemption for the Georgia home as a primary residence, according to property records and a Fulton County tax official.A separate document reviewed by Reuters, related to a federal form completed by Cook as she obtained security clearance for her role at the Federal Reserve, shows that in December 2021 she also declared the Atlanta property as a “2nd home.” Though unrelated to the mortgage, the declaration on that document, a supplement to a U.S. government national security form known as SF-86, is consistent with the claim on her Atlanta loan summary.
Well, of course Pulte and the rest of the Trump administration weren’t aware of the document. They just used their standard technique of taking things out of context and proceeding without the slightest attempt at due process … and by due process, I mean internal checking for flaws before racing off to court, not just the court action itself. The entire administration is chock-full of incompetent scum; we knew that already.
It didn’t stop them from solemnly presenting their case:
The Trump administration on Sunday renewed its request to a federal appeals court to fire Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor who has faced political scrutiny in recent weeks.
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The Trump administration called Cook’s claims to stay on the board “meritless,” adding that concerns over whether Cook misrepresented her finances pose concerns as to “whether Cook can be trusted to act with forthrightness, care, and disinterest in managing the U.S. money supply.”
The next story is that she seems to have done everything right in Michigan, too:
The property tax authority in Ann Arbor, Mich., says Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook hasn’t broken rules for tax breaks on a home there that Cook declared her primary residence.
The finding, which came in response to a Reuters request that the city review Cook’s property records, could boost Cook’s defense against efforts by the Trump administration to remove her from the Federal Reserve board.
Ann Arbor has “no reason to believe” that Cook violated property tax rules, City Assessor Jerry Markey told Reuters. Cook has at times lived elsewhere and city records indicate she sought permission from Ann Arbor authorities to rent out the Michigan home on a short-term basis.
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Since securing a mortgage for the Michigan home in 2021, local property records show she got approval from the city to rent it out on a short-term basis in October, 2022, and again in April, 2024. Some cities, like Ann Arbor, require home owners to obtain a license to rent out their home, even on a short-term basis.In April of 2025, months before Pulte began publicly accusing her of fraud, Cook sought approval to list the home as a long-term rental, according to local records and city officials. In July, she told the city she had enlisted a rental firm to manage the property, the officials said.
Cook now has until the end of the year to revoke the tax exemption on the home, said Markey, the Ann Arbor city assessor.
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The rates on Cook’s two mortgages show Cook didn’t enjoy discounts compared with prevailing rates available to borrowers when she negotiated the loans in 2021.Her rate on the 15-year loan on the Michigan property was 2.875 per cent, versus a prevailing national rate in that period ranging from 2.23 per cent to 2.45 per cent, according to Freddie Mac data. And her rate on the 30-year loan on her Atlanta property was 3.25 per cent, versus a prevailing rate at the time ranging from 2.93 per cent to 3.04 per cent.
President Donald Trump cannot remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors for now, a federal appeals court said in an emergency ruling Monday, hours before the central bank’s two-day monetary policy meeting kicks off.
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“In this court, the government does not dispute that it failed to provide Cook even minimal process—that is, notice of the allegation against her and a meaningful opportunity to respond—before she was purportedly removed,” Judges Bradley Garcia and Michelle Childs wrote in their opinion.“The district court issued its preliminary injunction after finding that Cook is likely to succeed on two of her claims: her substantive, statutory claim that she was removed without ‘cause’… and her procedural claim that she did not receive sufficient process prior to her removal in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment,” Garcia and Childs wrote.
In his dissenting opinion, Judge Gregory Katsas wrote that “President Trump removed Cook for cause.”
But fear not, Trump fans! He managed to get his … stooge? muse? … confirmed as a Fed Governor:
Stephen Miran, one of President Donald Trump’s top economic advisers, on Monday was confirmed by the Senate to serve on the Federal Reserve’s powerful Board of Governors, hours before the Fed’s two day monetary policy meeting begins.
The Senate voted 48-47 to confirm Miran. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was the only Republican to vote against Miran’s confirmation.
Once sworn in as a Fed governor, Miran will immediately be one of 12 officials voting on interest rate decisions.
| HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices Values are provisional and are finalized monthly |
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| Index | Mean Current Yield (at bid) |
Median YTW |
Median Average Trading Value |
Median Mod Dur (YTW) |
Issues | Day’s Perf. | Index Value |
| Ratchet | 6.65 % | 7.08 % | 36,936 | 13.35 | 1 | 0.9146 % | 2,473.2 |
| FixedFloater | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.8050 % | 4,610.2 |
| Floater | 6.59 % | 6.91 % | 63,508 | 12.72 | 3 | -0.8050 % | 2,656.9 |
| OpRet | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.1386 % | 3,653.8 |
| SplitShare | 4.79 % | 4.48 % | 59,054 | 3.40 | 6 | 0.1386 % | 4,363.5 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.1386 % | 3,404.6 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.48 % | 1.18 % | 75,426 | 0.08 | 3 | -0.0528 % | 3,080.5 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 5.54 % | 5.63 % | 44,244 | 14.38 | 28 | -0.4016 % | 3,394.0 |
| FixedReset Disc | 5.91 % | 6.00 % | 117,686 | 13.68 | 32 | -0.2851 % | 3,034.0 |
| Insurance Straight | 5.44 % | 5.44 % | 55,758 | 14.69 | 18 | 0.2028 % | 3,325.4 |
| FloatingReset | 5.05 % | 4.82 % | 47,165 | 0.12 | 1 | -1.3439 % | 3,764.2 |
| FixedReset Prem | 5.67 % | 5.00 % | 121,398 | 2.86 | 21 | -0.3019 % | 2,625.5 |
| FixedReset Bank Non | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.2851 % | 3,101.4 |
| FixedReset Ins Non | 5.33 % | 5.42 % | 64,123 | 14.48 | 15 | -2.0347 % | 3,004.1 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| IFC.PR.A | FixedReset Ins Non | -24.50 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2055-09-15 Maturity Price : 16.70 Evaluated at bid price : 16.70 Bid-YTW : 6.84 % |
| PWF.PR.R | Perpetual-Discount | -4.44 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2055-09-15 Maturity Price : 23.16 Evaluated at bid price : 23.46 Bid-YTW : 5.94 % |
| IFC.PR.C | FixedReset Ins Non | -2.12 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2055-09-15 Maturity Price : 22.52 Evaluated at bid price : 23.03 Bid-YTW : 5.75 % |
| SLF.PR.C | Insurance Straight | -1.51 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2055-09-15 Maturity Price : 21.50 Evaluated at bid price : 21.50 Bid-YTW : 5.19 % |
| GWO.PR.R | Insurance Straight | -1.23 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2055-09-15 Maturity Price : 21.44 Evaluated at bid price : 21.70 Bid-YTW : 5.54 % |
| TD.PF.J | FixedReset Prem | -1.21 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2055-09-15 Maturity Price : 23.53 Evaluated at bid price : 25.25 Bid-YTW : 5.45 % |
| BN.PR.R | FixedReset Disc | -1.08 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2055-09-15 Maturity Price : 19.78 Evaluated at bid price : 19.78 Bid-YTW : 6.31 % |
| BN.PR.X | FixedReset Disc | 1.47 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2055-09-15 Maturity Price : 19.61 Evaluated at bid price : 19.61 Bid-YTW : 5.86 % |
| BN.PF.A | FixedReset Disc | 1.57 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2055-09-15 Maturity Price : 23.56 Evaluated at bid price : 25.58 Bid-YTW : 5.66 % |
| IFC.PR.E | Insurance Straight | 9.75 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2055-09-15 Maturity Price : 23.65 Evaluated at bid price : 23.93 Bid-YTW : 5.44 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| RY.PR.M | FixedReset Disc | 191,000 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2025-11-24 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.04 Bid-YTW : 3.09 % |
| FFH.PR.G | FixedReset Prem | 99,700 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2025-10-30 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.96 Bid-YTW : 4.90 % |
| ENB.PF.G | FixedReset Disc | 59,200 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2055-09-15 Maturity Price : 21.44 Evaluated at bid price : 21.73 Bid-YTW : 6.39 % |
| ENB.PF.C | FixedReset Disc | 54,100 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2055-09-15 Maturity Price : 21.25 Evaluated at bid price : 21.25 Bid-YTW : 6.46 % |
| NA.PR.C | FixedReset Prem | 53,700 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2027-11-15 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.45 Bid-YTW : 4.51 % |
| ENB.PR.Y | FixedReset Disc | 51,500 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2055-09-15 Maturity Price : 20.25 Evaluated at bid price : 20.25 Bid-YTW : 6.47 % |
| There were 15 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| See TMX DataLinx: ‘Last’ != ‘Close’ and the posts linked therein for an idea of why these quotes are so horrible. | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| IFC.PR.A | FixedReset Ins Non | Quote: 16.70 – 22.55 Spot Rate : 5.8500 Average : 3.1036 YTW SCENARIO |
| PWF.PR.R | Perpetual-Discount | Quote: 23.46 – 24.60 Spot Rate : 1.1400 Average : 0.6521 YTW SCENARIO |
| IFC.PR.C | FixedReset Ins Non | Quote: 23.03 – 23.90 Spot Rate : 0.8700 Average : 0.5207 YTW SCENARIO |
| TD.PF.J | FixedReset Prem | Quote: 25.25 – 26.05 Spot Rate : 0.8000 Average : 0.5636 YTW SCENARIO |
| GWO.PR.G | Insurance Straight | Quote: 23.92 – 24.85 Spot Rate : 0.9300 Average : 0.7017 YTW SCENARIO |
| BN.PF.I | FixedReset Prem | Quote: 25.12 – 26.12 Spot Rate : 1.0000 Average : 0.7748 YTW SCENARIO |