MORNING YAPS

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, 77, dies after fighting cancer
Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the last of a political dynasty who was once considered an inevitable U.S. president but instead went on to become a near legend in the Senate, died more than a year after being diagnosed with brain cancer. Congressional scholar Thomas E. Mann said Kennedy was "an amazing and endurable presence" in the Senate. "You want to go back to the 19th century to find parallels, but you won't find parallels," he said. "It was the completeness of his involvement in the work of the Senate that explains his career." The Washington Post (26 Aug.)

*gotta LOVE judges, for a change
Judge questions SEC's justification for BofA settlement: U.S. Judge Jed S. Rakoff said the Securities and Exchange Commission's justification for settling with Bank of America regarding investor disclosures was "at war with common sense." The SEC argued that attorney-client privilege prevented the agency from building a case against the bank's executives. Rakoff said if that were the SEC's policy, "it would seem that all a corporate officer who has produced a false proxy statement need offer by way of defense is that he or she relied on counsel." The Wall Street Journal (26 Aug.)

*10% will be here sooner rather than later as Obama administration expects
U.S. Postal Service moves to shed 30,000 workers
The U.S. Postal Service looks to cut as many as 30,000 jobs by offering financial incentives for early retirement or resignation by its longest-serving employees. The action is part of an effort to reduce expenses by $6 billion this fiscal year through decreasing labor costs and increasing automation. Voluntary reductions mostly will be made in mail-processing facilities, where workers will be offered $15,000 to leave. Reuters (25 Aug.)

*did you think they weren't buying up all that SPY?
CFTC alarms Wall Street as it considers commodity-trading limits
Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and other leading banks are exempt from most commodity-trading limits in order to manage risks as they serve as market makers. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, however, is looking into whether those exemptions should stand, as it considers blanket limits on a variety of commodity markets. Financial Times (tiered subscription model) (25 Aug.)

*what's another $2T
White House puts 10-year deficit at $9.05 trillion
Driven largely by a recession that turned out to be more severe than most anticipated, the Obama administration's 10-year estimate of the U.S. deficit was revised to $9.05 trillion, almost $2 trillion more than forecast in February. Policies proposed by President Barack Obama were calculated into the projection. An estimate from the Congressional Budget Office, which did not include the proposals, put the 10-year deficit at $7.1 trillion. The New York Times (25 Aug.)

*hair of the dog
Barclays looks to revive securitization market with RMBS
Although only a few prospective deals are said to be in the works in the primary European securitization market, a residential mortgage-backed securities deal from Barclays is arousing some interest. The Barclays RMBS features an innovative twist and likely will test the European market and investor sentiment for securitized deals. In addition to that deal, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group and others also are reportedly considering stepping back into the securitization market. International Financing Review (22 Aug.)