Linkfest

Some more interesting reading stumbled upon by yours truely...

Lies, damn lies, and statistics in PhD candidate publishes empirical analysis of Prosper:

The results are certainly interesting. One thing that catches my eye is the homeowner determination. Based on Matt's analysis, homeowners are actually a greater risk of default than non-homeowners. Yet, according to the dataset Kumar used, being a homeowner is not a significant variable but Prosper lenders bid down homeowner loans. A careful look at Kumar's dataset could help increase returns for lenders.

ZCommodore has a good overview on the HR implosion:

Over 50% of all loans on Prosper during November and December last year were to E grade borrowers and below (including NC). These borrowers have been shown to default at alarmingly high rates, much higher than the supposed 19.1% Experian estimate promoted by Prosper.

How did this happen? Here's the answer:

Prosper Lending Review spots an entertaining NY Times article on Prosper:

Jonathan Last wrote a humorous article about Prosper, Need a Loan? Usury for Beginners, for the Wall Street Journal which details his own experience becoming a Prosper lender. Not only does he become a lender, he becomes a loan shark.

RateLadder reports on the results of 3 loans sold during the latest defaulted debt sale:

CreditGrade: AA
...
$36.63 / $143.87 = 25.46% of principal

CreditGrade: C
...
$4.06 / $43.26 = 15.95% of principal

CreditGrade: D
...
$3.83 / $45.60 = 8.4% of principal

RateLadder later posted Pensioner's results.