by Calculated Risk on 7/20/2007 11:22:00 AM

St. Louis Fed President William Poole spoke this morning: Reputation and the Non-Prime Mortgage Market.

... the non-prime mortgage market—with 2006 originations of about one trillion dollars —clearly is large enough to affect aggregate homebuilding activity and consumer spending.
...
Most of the news, and most of the problems, relate to the highest risk part of the non-prime mortgage market—the subprime market. There have also been some problems in the so-called “Alt-A” market, which lies between prime and subprime. What I am calling the non-prime market covers subprime and Alt A.

The discussion has now expanded beyond subprime to include Alt-A.