This shouldn’t surprise anyone: Delinquencies on mortgages made to borrowers who can’t completely document their income or assets are on the rise, according to a recent story by Reuters News.

Standard & Poor’s reported that the 90-plus-day delinquency rate for these loans made in 2006 stood at 4.71 percent. The same type of loans made in 2005 had a 90-plus-day delinquency rate of 1.97 percent.

Again, this news shouldn’t be shocking. Loans made without complete documentation from borrowers are riskier than are standard mortgage loans. Given that delinquencies are up for mortgage loans in general, it’s tiny surprise that a rising percentage of those borrowers who couldn’t verify their incomes or assets are also falling behind in their payments.

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Filed under: Deals

Add Kirk Kerkorian to the list of legendary investors making massive bets on energy. Kerkorian’s trading automobile Tracinda has purchased a 35% stake in Delta Petroleum (NASDAQ: DPTR) for $684 million, sending shares of Delta up more than 20%.

The deal will give Delta a direct capital infusion, since Kerkorian is acquiring the stake from the company, rather than buying shares on the open market as most investors. Delta will use the cash to invest in its drilling activities in the Piceance and Paradox Basins.

Delta also got a fair price from Kerkorian, extracting $19 per share from the investor. That Delta got a premium of more than 20% in the private placement indicates that there was strong interest in the company; often private placements are at substantial discounts to the market price, as was the case with Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) which received a cash infusion from Bank of America (NYSE: BAC).

Kerkorian will be able to control one-third of the company’s board of directors as part of the agreement.

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Filed under: Deals, Merrill Lynch (MER)

It looks like the sale of equity in Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) isn’t over, as losses at the firm are likely in Q4. According to The New York Post, “Merrill Lynch & Co. is in talks with Chinese and Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds to raise capital by selling another ‘big’ stake in the company.”

That is bad news for current Merrill shareholders, who just watched Singapore’s Temasek Holdings put $4.4 billion into the broker. The value of Merrill’s shares is off almost 50% this year to under $53. If the company has to raise another $10 billion, the dilution could take the stock below $40.

Shareholders in Merrill have to wonder why the company does not sell its piece of Blackrock (NYSE: BLK). The investment company has a market cap of $14 billion. Merrill owns about half of the company.

Merrill also has the option of breaking its brokerage and wealth management businesses off from its investment bank.

It is not clear that bringing in cash from outside the firm is the best answer for Merrill shareholders.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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