By Joy Wiltermuth & Amelia Granger
About 4,000 conference registrants -- most gladly leaving snow and ice behind them -- made their way into The Orlando World Center Marriott Resort & Convention Center in khakis and sport coats to kick off the American Securitization Forum’s 2011 conference Sunday. The total attendance is expected to spike to about 5,000 over the course of the next two days, according to ASF officials.
The mood is notably more optimistic than in recent years and there was even positive buzz around the residential mortgage-backed securities market, which has been slow to recover. Some attendees said Redwood Trust is eyeing a second post-crash RMBS deal, which will be out within the month. Redwood is so far the only issuer to come out with a public U.S. RMBS since the financial crisis. The industry has been watching Redwood closely to see if the....