Friday, December 28, 2007

Friday December 28 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Pakistan's Bhutto Killed in Attack - (www.ap.com)
Bankruptcy case filed against main Ritchie fund - (www.reuters.com)
Rate cuts will hammer dollar: Chinese official - (money.cnn.com)
Advertising of easy credit in the 1920s - (etext.virginia.edu)
ACA (mortgage and bond insurer) Cedes Control to Regulator to Avert Delinquency - (www.bloomberg.com)
Subprime satan in hedge fund hell - (www.nypost.com)
Sallie Mae to Sell Stock to Pay Off a Failed Bet - (www.nytimes.com)
10 bank money market funds are bailed out - (www.ft.com) ($)
Restaurants trying to fill empty tables - (www.ocregister.com)
Subprime crisis hits newspapers’ revenues - (www.ft.com) ($)
U.K. mortgage approvals slump more than 40% - (business.timesonline.co.uk)
Edgy buyers, mortgage crunch spell more housing gloom in 2008 - (www.marketwatch.com)Houseowners with forgiven loan debt get unfair tax break - (www.usatoday.com)
Merrill Lynch to Cut 1,600 Jobs; Citi to Slash Bonuses - (www.cnbc.com)


Other Stories:


Goldman Raises Estimates For Bank Writedowns - (www.cnbc.com)
US Mortgage Applications Sink to Year Low - (www.cnbc.com)
Fast Money: Write-Down The New Year - (www.cnbc.com)

Economists glum about 2008 - (www.boston.com)
Frozen rates, falling prices - (www.nytimes.com)
U.S. Economy's Pulse Weakens - (www.forbes.com)
Fewer mortgage applications filed last week - (www.marketwatch.com)
Are hedge funds next to see write offs? - (www.nypost.com)
Wall Street Wizardry Amplified Credit Crisis - (online.wsj.com) ($)

Reining In Risky Bets - (online.wsj.com) ($)
House Price Decline Hits New Record - (seekingalpha.com)
House prices post record annual drop - (news.yahoo.com)
U.S. house prices fall record 6.7 percent in October - (www.tcpalm.com)
Biggest Housebuilder Writedowns Are Yet to Come - (www.bloomberg.com)
Blame abounds for housing bust - (www.washingtontimes.com)
Are We Having a Housing Crisis Dj Vu? - (seekingalpha.com)
Web Entrepreneurs Fail in Miami's Condo Market - (www.nytimes.com)
Mortgage Meltdown - (www.nytimes.com)
How a development became a housing debacle - (www.sptimes.com)
Citigroup May Cut Dividend by 40%, Goldman Sachs Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
Buffett turns down bank deal - (www.guardian.co.uk)
China Buys Wall Street – (www.forbes.com)

U.K. November Mortgage Approvals Fall 44% on Year - (www.bloomberg.com)
UK housing market stuck in doldrums - (www.ft.com) ($)
Even Hot Housing Markets Can Go Cold - (www.businessweek.com)
The Credit Crunch - (www.post-gazette.com)
Don't bet the farm on it all turning out OK - (business.smh.com.au)
So Long SuperSIV, We Hardly Knew You - (www.researchrecap.com)
Dwindling dollar may be next US security threat - (www.ft.com) ($)
Floyd Norris: New wave of defaults in the offing for 2008 - (www.iht.com)

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Thursday December 27 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Home prices post record decline - (money.cnn.com)
S&P/Case-Shiller index of 10 major cities fell 6.7% in October. Housing markets remain 'grim.'
Web Entrepreneurs Fail in Miami's Condo Market - (www.nytimes.com)
Westfield Scraps A$700 Million of Sales Amid Subprime Fallout - (www.bloomberg.com)
Condo crash burns big, sophisticated investor, too - (palmbeachpost.com)
Davis Selected Reveals 5.1% Stake in MBIA - (www.cnbc.com.com)
Mortgage Crisis Puts Friendships to the Test - (www.cnbc.com.com)
Retirement plan interrupted by foolish house purchase - (money.cnn.com)
Analysis: Washington's scramble to avoid recession - (www.usatoday.com)
Foreclosing on Christmas due to foolish house purchase - (www.latimes.com)
Unpaid credit cards bedevil Americans - (news.yahoo.com)
Dollar's Fall Is Felt Around The Globe - (www.washingtonpost.com)
States chop '08 spending plans - (www.usatoday.com)
Fitch: RMBS Ratings May Be Downgraded - (www.forbes.com)
Houseowners with forgiven loan debt get unfair tax break (www.usatoday.com)


Other Stories:


Lumber Mills Face Losses With Housing-Market Slump - (online.wsj.com) ($)
Will they Call them 'Bushvilles'? - (www.financialarmageddon.com)
Mortgage Fraud Cases overwhelm investigators - (nytimes.com)
Paul Krugman (long but pretty good) video - (www.youtube.com)
The Sound of a Bubble Bursting - (www.nytimes.com)
Trim tax loopholes, legislative analyst urges - (www.dailynews.com)
US Dollar & Bond Insurers - (news.goldseek.com)
Inflation may cause Treasury bond yields to spike - (www.reuters.com)
Hog wild for China - (money.cnn.com)
Banks abandon plan for Super-SIV - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Crisis may make 1929 look a 'walk in the park' - (www.telegraph.co.uk)
Convertible Bond Sales Set Record as Stock Volatility Soars - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. Home Prices Fell 6.1% in October, Index Shows - (www.bloomberg.com)
Holiday Spending Is Weak, as Retailers Expected - (www.nytimes.com)
ABC/Wash Post: US Consumer Confidence Down 6 Pts Latest Wk - (www.fxstreet.com)
Survey: Job market steady in '08 - (www.usatoday.com)
Blame abounds for housing bust - (www.washingtontimes.com)
Poor Christmas sales leave stores hungry - (www.ft.com) ($)

Review: Wild swings leave investors breathless - (www.ft.com) ($)
New exchange to shake-up futures trading - (www.ft.com) ($)
US housing crisis reverberates around the globe - (news.yahoo.com)
Banks face financial turmoil despite abundant global liquidity - (news.yahoo.com)
China to Increase Crude Oil Imports in Term Contracts - (www.bloomberg.com)
Small, midsize business sentiment falls to lowest in nearly 3 years - (www.iht.com)
China to scrap import duty on metals - (www.ft.com) ($)

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Wednesday December 26 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Central CA prices down 23% so far - (www.modbee.com)
Insurance from MBIA and Ambac Worthless - (globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com - Mish)
Retirement plan interrupted by foolish house purchase - (money.cnn.com)
9.4 Billion Write-Down at Morgan Stanley - (www.nytimes.com)
Bond giant's $8.1 billion surprise - (money.cnn.com)
Foreclosing on Christmas due to foolish house purchase - (latimes.com)
Condo crash burns big, sophisticated investor, too - (palmbeachpost.com)
U.K. commercial property funds in crisis - (www.marketwatch.com)
Passengers stranded as Maxjet collapses (amidst tough credit conditions) - (www.ft.com)
US airline cites rapidly deteriorating finances
Government Faces Mortgage Crisis - (www.cnbc.com)
Americans 'walk' from loans - (business.theage.com.au)
Sellers dumping realtors - (www.venturacountystar.com)
SIV 'superfund' fails - (www.marketwatch.com)
SEC probing mortgages based on inflated appraisals - (news.yahoo.com)


Other Stories:

Deflation Debate - (globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com - Mish)
Weekend Fun with Sallie Mae and Countrywide CEOs - (globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com - Mish)
Merger and Takeover Activity Chills - (globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com - Mish)
American banks: Unhappy new year - (www.economist.com)
Fraud Seen as a Driver In Wave of Foreclosures - (online.wsj.com)
Getting a loan 'rescission" - (online.wsj.com)
SEC Probes Wall Street on Mortgage-Related Asset Pricing - (seekingalpha.com)
Economics ain't pretty - (www.atimes.com)
America flunks finance and economics - (www.charlestonbusiness.com)
Economic 9/11 - (www.earthfiles.com)Free Market myths - (www.opednews.com)
Lying, Crying and Fire Sale Buying Begins - (www.infozine.com)
This Is the Sound of a Bubble Bursting - (www.nytimes.com)
A Threat So Big, Academics Try Collaboration - (www.nytimes.com)
Credit card delinquencies and defaults surge - (www.latimes.com)
Financial forecasters can't say how low economy will go - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Americans' unpaid credit card debts rising - (www.dallasnews.com)
Retail Rush Falls Short - (online.wsj.com) ($)
The Fed's Thaw - (www.washingtonpost.com)
US braces for baby boom retirement wave - (news.yahoo.com)
Builder talks of 35% SoCal price cuts - (lansner.freedomblogging.com)
Demand for food does not mean $1,000 for a gallon of milk - (seekingalpha.com)
Housing market outlook for 2008 is bleak - (money.cnn.com)
U.S. housing crash to deepen in 2008 after record drop - (www.dailyreportonline.com)
Soybeans highest in 34 years; corn rises - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Foreign Buyers Snap Up 2nd Homes in US - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Credit Downturn Hits the Malls - (online.wsj.com) ($) (12/25/2007 08:12 PM)
Asian, Mideast funds unleash cultural revolution on Wall St. - (news.yahoo.com)
Officials Falling Behind on Mortgage Fraud Cases - (www.nytimes.com)
Outlook Darkens for Big Banks - (online.wsj.com) ($)

Restructuring in works for Canada's frozen debt market - (www.iht.com)
Cheyne SIV poised for rescue as Goldman Sachs fixes bailout - (business.timesonline.co.uk)
Crisis may make 1929 look a 'walk in the park' - (www.telegraph.co.uk)

Monday, December 24, 2007

Monday December 24 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

How to Invest in MBIA and Lose $20 Million a Day - (www.ml-implode.com)
Real estate pros look for exits - (baltimore.bizjournals.com)
Irish House prices falling 1,500 Euros per month - (www.rte.ie)
Jeb Bush, subprime mortgage salesman - (eyeonmiami.blogspot.com)
MBIA details huge mortgage exposure, shares collapse - (news.yahoo.com)
Smugglers Trashed My House - (www.coloradodaily.com)
Please Don't Destroy My American Dream - (iowahawk.typepad.com)
Taxes Are Reassessed in Housing Slump as Prices Drop - (www.nytimes.com)
Homeowners fret over rising property taxes - (money.cnn.com)
End of easy cash: banks must take losses - (www.ml-implode.com)
SEC Probing Washington Mutual - (www.ml-implode.com)


Other Stories:

Fannie Mae execs to face shareholders - (money.cnn.com)
Ex-Fannie boss says Bush White House instigated accounting scam - (money.cnn.com)
Why the Government Continues to Exacerbate the Problem - (blownmortgage.com)
Peter Schiff on Housing Market and Bailout Plan - (seekingalpha.com)
Bond Insurer Cut to Junk - (www.nytimes.com)
"Teaser freezer" plan is no panacea - (www.schwabinsights.com)
When Mortgages Made Sense - (www.newsweek.com)
This Is the Sound of a Bubble Bursting - (www.nytimes.com)
Economic Outlook: US consumer confidence lacks solid foundations - (www.ft.com)
Credit card defaults alarmingly high - (money.cnn.com)
Unpaid Credit Cards Bedevil Americans - (www.ap.com)
UBS faces scrutiny of Swiss regulator - (www.ft.com) ($)
Superfund collapse ‘embarrassing’ to Treasury - (www.ft.com) ($)
Big Fund to Prop Up Securities Is Scrapped - (www.nytimes.com)
Time To Buy? Not So Fast - (seekingalpha.com)
Bay Area house sales at two-decade low - (www.sfgate.com)
Truth of the 10 Percent Southern CA Price Drop - (www.doctorhousingbubble.com)
Idaho foreclosures have more than doubled over last year - (www.idahostatesman.com)

Goldman Awards Blankfein a Record $67.9 Million Bonus - (www.bloomberg.com)
The Year of Puncturing Wall Street Orthodoxy - (www.nytimes.com)
Merrill seeks way out of deep financial pothole - (www.ft.com) ($)
Ambac looks to offload risk - (www.ft.com) ($)
Crisis may make 1929 look a 'walk in the park' – (www.telegraph.co.uk)
Ghosts of 2007 will linger on - (www.latimes.com)
America's economic perfect storm - (www.boston.com)
Tent city in suburbs is cost of home crisis - (news.yahoo.com)

Role of Hedge Funds in Subprime Crisis Examined - (www.ml-implode.com)
Delta Financial stock to be delisted - (www.ml-implode.com)
Friday Night, Lights Out — Fitch Downgrades $5.3 Billion in RMBS - (www.ml-implode.com)
SEC probing three dozen securitization cases - (www.ml-implode.com)

Friday, December 21, 2007

Friday December 21 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories

Fed Loans 93 Banks $20 Billion at 4.65% (Think it will help? Think again.) - (www.bullnotbull.com/bull and www.nytimes.com)
Bay Area home sales at two-decade low
- (www.sfgate.com)
Builders Creating Phony Propped-Up House Sale Prices - (www.economicsbriefing.com)
Pimco boss says US in recession - (www.ft.com) ($)
MBIA Bond Risk Soars on $8.1 Billion CDO Disclosure
- (www.bloomberg.com)
Bond giant's $8.1 billion surprise
- (www.fortune.com)
SunTrust Invests $1.4 Billion to Protect Money Funds
- (www.bloomberg.com)
Bear Stearns Posts Loss After Mortgage Writedowns
- (www.bloomberg.com)

Inland Empire lot prices sliced in half - (lansner.freedomblogging.com)
Another Fed gift to Wall Street - (articles.moneycentral.msn.com)

UBS faces rebellion over fund injection - (www.ft.com)

UBS, one of the biggest casualties of the US subprime turmoil, faces a shareholders’ revolt over plans for a massive infusion of funds from Singapore and the Middle East to improve its capital ratios - 22:10

Other Stories:

Grocery list includes $4 milk - (money.cnn.com)
Food prices soar in America
- (money.cnn.com)
Years of foreboding followed by years of pain
- (www.ft.com) ($)
More in metro Atlanta seek mortgage help
- (www.ajc.com)
Big Bond Insurer Finds That Guaranteeing Subprime’s Risks Is Risky
- (www.nytimes.com)
Bond insurers’ capital raising may be harder
- (www.ft.com) ($)
Transparency for Funds Is Sought
- (online.wsj.com) ($)
Pressure rises on monolines
- (www.ft.com)

Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Falls Most Since August - (www.bloomberg.com)

How Hidden Incentives Distort House Prices - (online.wsj.com)
Foreclosures just Symptom, House Prices are the Problem - (homeguide123.com)
Blaming the Fed for the Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis - (seekingalpha.com)
Greenspan's comments in recent years on housing and mortgages - (www.startribune.com)
The end of America - and a little conspiracy theory - (chrysta.org)
Real estate slowly becoming imaginary estate - (onlinejournal.com)
The Collapse of the Modern Day Banking System - (patrick.net)
The World's Largest Banks Are Now Trapped - (www.lewrockwell.com)
US foreclosure filings up 68 pct in Nov - (news.yahoo.com)
No Bottom Yet: Housing Permits Drop To 14-Year Lows - (seekingalpha.com)
Fannie Mae: Systemic time bomb - (www.wallstreetexaminer.com)
Bass Shorted. "God I Hope You're Wrong" - (www.bloomberg.com)
Mortgage-industry lawsuits: The finger of suspicion - (www.economist.com)
Could Government Actually Be Part of the Solution? - (Charles Hugh Smith)

ACA Capital Problems Trigger More Bank Write-downs - (money.cnn.com)
Hedge funds assess exposure to banks
- (www.ft.com)
Power Flow Reverses For Wall Street And China
- (www.forbes.com)
Goldman, Lehman, Morgan Lift Bonuses; Bear Cuts Them
- (www.bloomberg.com)
Mortgage-industry lawsuits
- (www.economist.com)
Merrill's Writedowns to Top $8 Billion, Analysts Say
- (www.bloomberg.com)
FedEx 2Q Net Falls 6% On Weak US Economy, Fuel
- (money.cnn.com)
Area adds most retail space ever
- (www.chicagotribune.com)
The Bear Flu: How It Spread
- (www.businessweek.com)

China's red-hot property market is showing signs of flagging - (www.iht.com)
Floyd Norris: The mortgage mess, viewed from a Christmas past.
- (www.iht.com)

Years of foreboding followed by years of pain - (www.ft.com) ($)

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Thursday December 20 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

CIBC May Take More Writedowns After ACA Downgrade - (www.bloomberg.com)
Banks Study Bailing Out Struggling Bond Insurer - (www.nytimes.com)
Southern California prices down 10% - (www.reuters.com)
Confidence in US housing market spirals lower - (www.guardian.co.uk)
Loan fiasco leads to money fund concerns – (www.investmentnews.com)
Deal With Devil Funded Carrera Crash Before Bust - (www.bloomberg.com)
Guilty plea in Bay Area subprime mortgage scam - (www.sfgate.com)
31 Accused in Florida of Falsifying Home Loans - (www.nytimes.com)
FBI Probes Virginia Mortgage Scam - (www.washingtonpost.com)

Financial Day of Reckoning Approaches - (globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/)
Why Michigan is a Basket Case - (globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/)
ECB's $500 Billion Loan Won't Help Solvency Problems - (globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/)

ECB $500B Injection Huge (5% of entire US Banking assets) - (www.bloomberg.com)
Another Fed gift to Wall Street - (articles.moneycentral.msn.com)
Colorado foreclosures set record - (www.denverpost.com)
Schwarzenegger Will 'Declare Fiscal Emergency' In Weeks - (www.nbc11.com)
Great Depression drives Bernanke's rescue - (www.telegraph.co.uk)
Sallie Mae plunges on CEO remarks - (www.ft.com)
Cash-Starved Banks Jam The Fed's First Auction - (www.cnbc.com)
Morgan Stanley Posts Loss, Gets China Investment - (www.cnbc.com)


Other Stories:

Top 10 U.S. Housing Markets to Drop 8% in 2008 - (seekingalpha.com)
Japanese housing gloom adds to decline - (www.ft.com)

U.S. Foreclosures Rose 68 Percent in November, RealtyTrac Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
Home construction drops to lowest level since '91 - (www.ajc.com)
Call for $75bn boost to US economy - (www.ft.com) ($)
In Reversal, Fed Approves Plan to Curb Risky Lending - (www.nytimes.com)
Fed proposes new rules to clean up mortgages - (www.rte.ie)
Insight into the decision-making process - (patrick.net)
Bail Out 4 All - (www.bailout4all.info)
Home sales in Southland plunge 43% - (www.latimes.com)
93 Banks Place Bids to Borrow From Fed - (www.nytimes.com)
Houston-area home sales stay on their downward path - (www.chron.com)
More in metro Atlanta seek mortgage help - (www.ajc.com)
N.Y. farms said facing economic hardship - (www.chron.com)
A Look at Past U.S. House Price Corrections - (efinancedirectory.com)
Dispelling The Myth That A House Is A Good Investment - (millionairemommynextdoor)
US housing crisis reverberates around the globe - (news.yahoo.com)
U.S. Housebuilder Confidence Declines To All Time Low - (www.allheadlinenews.com)
Housing - Simple As That - (www.financialsense.com)
Fed Shrugged as Subprime Crisis Spread - (www.nytimes.com)
Ambac, MBIA Outlook Lowered by S&P, ACA Cut to CCC - (www.bloomberg.com)
US Foreclosure Filings Up 68 Pct in Nov. - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Wall St. analysts still in fantasyland - (money.cnn.com)
S&P paints bleak picture of 2008 debt outlook - (www.ft.com) ($)
Money Market Rates Fall for Second Day After ECB Cash Injection - (www.bloomberg.com)
Now, Even Borrowers With Good Credit Pose Risks - (www.wsj.com) ($)
Analysts in fantasyland - (www.fortune.com)
Municipal Bonds Swoon With Worst Total U.S. Returns Since 1999 - (www.bloomberg.com)
Pension Fund Shortages Create Hard Choices - (www.nytimes.com)
How Hidden Incentives Distort Home Prices - (www.wsj.com) ($)
Year-end squeeze fears start to recede - (www.ft.com)
Cambridge suffers further loss - (www.ft.com)

Morgan Stanley Reports Worse-Than-Estimated Loss - (www.bloomberg.com)
Idaho in desperate act with Micron? - (www.43rdstateblues.com)

German Business Confidence Drops to Two-Year Low – (www.bloomberg.com)
Trichet Says Inflation Pickup to Be `More Protracted' - (www.bloomberg.com)
Northern Rock rescue to cost us £1,800 each - (www.telegraph.co.uk)
German business morale tumbles - (www.ft.com) ($)

Tale of Two Deficits: It’s All in the Accounting - (www.cfo.com)
A $500 Billion Correction - (www.nytimes.com)
A Crisis Long Foretold - (www.nytimes.com)
Hedge Fund Wizards - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Another Credit Minefield - (www.washingtonpost.com)

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Wednesday December 19 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Investors stunned by ECB's EU350bn - (www.ft.com)
Hovnanian's losses quadruple - (money.cnn.com)
Florida Got Lehman Help Before Run on School's Funds - (www.bloomberg.com)
Investors own about one-fifth of Bay Area houses in foreclosure - (www.sfgate.com)
Democrats may commit the real mortgage fraud - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Confidence in US housing market spirals lower - (guardian.co.uk)
Walk away, and do it now! - (walkaway.blog.com)
Goldman hints record run could be ending - (www.ft.com)
Goldman Sachs prepared the market for a possible end to its remarkable run of record-breaking profits in defiance of the credit squeeze, warning that difficult market conditions in November had clouded its outlook
Paulson Favors Fannie, Freddie Buying Jumbo Mortgages - (www.bloomberg.com)
Greenspan: Throw Cash At Mortgage Crisis - (seekingalpha.com)
Bear Stearns halts lending in Irvine, cuts 150 jobs - (http://ml-implode.com/)
FHA Secure Flop. Only 266 Borrowers Have Been Assisted! - (http://ml-implode.com/)
Is the Goldman Sachs Game Fixed? - (http://ml-implode.com/)
Subprime woes lead to $1.1bn Centro default - (www.ft.com) ($)


Other Stories:

The Continuing Crisis: It's Not Over Yet - (www.goldmoney.com)
Presidential Candidates On The Mortgage Bailout - (efinancedirectory.com)
Money-Market Rates Fail to Respond to Bank Measures - (www.bloomberg.com)
Greenspan Spins the Housing Bubble - (www.tpmcafe.com)
Housing industry looks to make taxpayers liable for their mistakes - (www.bizjournals.com)
Subprime Securities Market Began as Group of 5' Over Chinese - (www.bloomberg.com)
Failure Beyond Finance - (jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com)
SIV liquidity problems: The next wave looms - (http://ml-implode.com/)
London Leads Biggest England House-Price Drop Since 2002 - (www.bloomberg.com)
Questions for John Bogle - (money.cnn.com)
Renters driving down condo prices - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Renters won't cover your mortgage - (www.palmbeachpost.com)
Mortgage-Relief Plan Divides Neighbors - (online.wsj.com)
Reckless Lending By Central Banks and Its Consequences - (www.safehaven.com)
Housing Starts in U.S. Drop 3.7%, Building Permits Decline to 14-Year Low - (www.bloomberg.com)
Southern California home prices tumble in November - (www.reuters.com)
Home Sales Drop 45% in November, Southern California Sets 20-Year Low - OC Register
Prospect of aggressive US rate cuts fades - (www.ft.com)
Grocery bills to keep growing - (www.dallasnews.com)
GAO flunks government's financials - (www.cfo.com)
High costs squeezing travel - (www.latimes.com)
No housing bubble popped in Ohio, Michigan - (www.msnbc.msn.com)

Monetary rescue helicopters getting bigger - (www.ft.com)
Defaults to Quadruple as More Companies Cut to Junk - (www.bloomberg.com)
States Short 27% of $2.7 Trillion Owed Retirees, Pew Study Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
Merrill: $500 Billion in Economy-Wide Mortgage Losses - (online.wsj.com)
Fitch may set limits for debt product ratings - (www.ft.com) ($)
San Diego November home prices slide 10% from 2006 - (www.signonsandiego.com)
Wheat hits record as global demand depletes supply - (www.usatoday.com)

Goldman Gains in Worst Wall Street Quarter Since '01 - (www.bloomberg.com)
US manufacturers warned on insularity - (www.ft.com) ($)
Goldman's bet against subprime was huge - (news.scotsman.com).com
Goldman's Bonus Pool Jumps 23% to Record $12 Billion - (www.bloomberg.com)

ECB, BoE turn on funding taps to ease crunch - (www.reuters.com)
ECB Lends 348.6 Billion Euros, Easing Year-End Cash Drought - (www.bloomberg.com)
Former Fed chief blamed for stoking US sub-prime loans crisis - (business.timesonline.co.uk)
U.K. sellers cutting home prices - (www.telegraph.co.uk)

Insight: Painful adjustments ahead for banking system - (www.ft.com) ($)
Time to admit that the models don't work - (www.ft.com) ($)