It does look like the economy is losing steam. After two years of Fed tightening, it's simply gotten more expensive to finance whatever it is you're trying to finance.

We suspect that if the economy remains as soft as it has been lately, the Fed may very well decide a break is in order somewhere along the way.

The Fed would only pause on the GM news if there were some indication that the news threatens the health of the economy as a whole or the health of the financial markets as a whole.

It's nice to know that the Fed is taking (exotic home loans) seriously,

You don't need to think the economy is losing momentum.

In today's market, everyone is a Fed-watcher. Hopefully we will not lose any transparency and will lose some of the volatility.