Reporting fact vs. opinion

On the LAT's front page today, reporter Richard B. Schmitt writes that "damage from the global mortgage meltdown has more than matched that of the savings-and-loan bailouts of the 1980s and early 1990s. By some estimates, it has made that costly debacle look like chump change." Since Schmitt isn't quoting an expert and doesn't identify a source it must be assumed that he's offering his own opinion. That opinion has no value because Schmitt has no expertise in the subject matter.