by Calculated Risk on 4/17/2013 09:07:00 PM

Oh my ... from the NY Times DealBook: Mortgage Relief Checks Go Out, Only to Bounce

The first round of the settlement checks were mailed last week. In recent days, problems arose at Rust Consulting, a firm chosen to distribute the checks, people briefed on the matter said. After collecting the $3.6 billion from the banks, these people said, Rust failed to move the money into a central account at Huntington National Bank in Ohio, the bank that issued the checks to homeowners.
...
“It’s the perfect ending for such a debacle,” said Michael Redman, a paralegal who runs 4closurefraud.org ...

I think this fits, Stephen Colbert on smoking pot: "If kids want to grow up, break the law, and not suffer any consequences ... they should go into banking!"

Thursday economic releases:
• At 8:30 AM ET, the initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. The consensus is for claims to increase to 347 thousand from 346 thousand last week. The "sequester" budget cuts might be starting to impact weekly claims.

• At 10:00 AM, the Philly Fed manufacturing survey for April. The consensus is for a reading of minus 3.3, up from 2.0 last month (above zero indicates expansion).

• At 1:00 PM, Speech by Fed Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin, Reflections on Inequality and the Recent Business Cycle, At the 22nd Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference on the State of the U.S. and World Economies, New York, New York