Booyah Breakdown: Subprime Time

Stock quotes in this article: HRB , GM , HBC , WM , WFC  

And if housing prices continue to fall, thanks to all these defaults, that means less equity in people's pockets, and you know what happens from there.

Thankfully, lenders are have raised their standards (which they should have never lowered) on subprime borrowers. But unfortunately, that's too little, too late.

While we're far from done with the subprime pain, it will be a few months before we really get a feel for what the damage will be. Cramer argues that if Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke lowers rates, that could help dull the pain. But then there's that pesky risk of inflation to worry about.

So for now, all we can do is wait -- and continue to make our monthly mortgage payments so we don't add to this mess.

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Tracy Byrnes is an award-winning writer specializing in tax and accounting issues. As a freelancer, she has written columns for wsj.com and the New York Post and her work has appeared in SmartMoney and on CBS MarketWatch. Prior to freelancing, she spent four years as a senior writer for TheStreet.com. Before that, she was an accountant with Ernst & Young. She has a B.A. in English and economics from Lehigh University and an M.B.A. in accounting from Rutgers University. Byrnes appreciates your feedback; click here to send her an email.




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