Tuesday November 20 Housing and Economic stories

One of the better stories I read today was the Greenspan story below. It is really ashame that Greenspan and Bernanke keep saying their policies are not hurting Americans and that the dollar decline is not hurting American's unless they travel outside the country. Their policies are causing gas prices to go up to $100/barrell and many other commodity prices are at or near all time highs. The high oil prices are really a tax or are affecting all American citizens and many outside the US as well. In addition, by lowering interest rates to bail-out Wall Street, they are penalizing older Americans who save money. We all know people who have thousands in the bank and get a whopping $2 in interest each month. Thanks Bubbles Greenspan and Helicoptor Pilot Bernanke.

Greenspan: Dollar's Decline Has No "Real" Impact - (www.bullnotbull.com/bull)

By the way, I went into Fidelity today to ask about their insurance on brokerage accounts/investment accounts. I believe these guarantors (insurance companies for bonds, mortgages) may include the one that provides extra insurance for Fidelity…. Oh well

Goldman paints bleak picture for housing, financials - one hour ago
Goldman lists financial guarantors MBIA Inc (MBI.N), Ambac Financial Group Inc, Security Capital Assurance Ltd (SCA.N) and Assured Guaranty Ltd (AGO.N) as the desperate. It lists Citigroup Inc, Washington Mutual Inc (WM.N), First Horizon National Corp (FHN.N) and National City Corp (NCC.N) in the "needy" column.


Best sources of housing and financial news stories (with no spin):
· http://patrick.net/housing/crash.html (Patrick.net US Housing Crash Continues)
· http://www.bullnotbull.com/bull/
· http://www.prudentbear.com/
· http://www.safehaven.com/
· http://www.jasmts.com/readingRoom.php (Jim Shepherd Investment Strategist)
· http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/ (Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis)


Housing and Economic News:

Credit Woes at GM, Cerberus, and Residential Capital – (http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/)
Point of No Return – (http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/)

Shares fall globally on new fears for banks - (www.ft.com)
Fears that banks could still be feeling the impact of the credit squeeze by Christmas next year drove down shares globally - 23:39
Fed likely to give investors a surprise - (www.ft.com)
Recovery in US corporate loans stalls - (www.ft.com)
Gulf Arab funds eye US assets - (www.ft.com)
Debate grows in Gulf states over revaluation - (www.ft.com)

Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos introduces the Kindle, a $400 hand-held digital reader that the company hopes will popularise the downloading of books in the way that Apple has driven the growth of digital music - (www.ft.com)
Amazon launches digital reader
China voices alarm at dollar weakness - (www.ft.com)
Concern over value $1,430bn of reserves - 02:19
Emerging markets weathering the storm
Poland demands US air defence system - (www.ft.com)
Vow to refocus foreign policy - 01:24
Ask the expert: Where is Russia heading?
Swiss Re falls victim to subprime crisis - (www.ft.com)
Ttwo complex credit default swaps lose $1bn - 22:39
Lex: European reinsurers


· Volatile Session Sees Seoul Fall, Japan Swings Black - (www.cnbc.com)
Trading proved volatile in the afternoon Asia session Tuesday with markets see-sawing and in out of the black. Australia and South Korea ended lower, but a late turnaround pushed Japanese stocks out of the red with the Nikkei closing 1.1 percent higher.
Yen Holds Gains on Deepening Credit Concerns - (www.cnbc.com)
USDA Reverses Itself on Tyson Antibiotic Label: WSJ - (www.cnbc.com)
Markets, Fed Still at Odds Over Outlook for Economy - (www.cnbc.com)
Stores Cut Holiday Prices, But Will Consumers Bite? - (www.cnbc.com)
Citigroup Gets 'Sell' Rating, May Face $15 Billion Hit - (www.cnbc.com)
Hewlett-Packard Profit Up 21%, Edging Forecasts - (www.cnbc.com)
Medtronic Profit Down 2% But Tops Estimates - (www.cnbc.com)
US Homebuilder Sentiment Remains at Record Low - (www.cnbc.com)
Fed Official Says Housing Market to Weaken Further - (www.cnbc.com)


Raid on Ron Paul Dollar Maker - (www.bullnotbull.com/bull)
China Freezes Lending... - (www.bullnotbull.com/bull)
Business Week: Economy on the Edge - (www.bullnotbull.com/bull)
India Tourists Sites Now Refuse Dollars! - (www.bullnotbull.com/bull)
As Owners Feel Mortgage Pain, So Do Renters - (www.bullnotbull.com/bull)
Bond Market to Bernanke: More Rate Cuts! - (www.bullnotbull.com/bull)
Goldman Rakes in the Cash on Credit Crisis - (www.bullnotbull.com/bull)
Perfect Storm for Gold as Mines Left Empty - (www.bullnotbull.com/bull)
Greenspan: Dollar's Decline Has No "Real" Impact - (www.bullnotbull.com/bull)


From http://www.prudentbear.com

Wall Street money machine breaks down - CNN/Money (11/19/2007 09:11 AM)
AMT could snag millions this year - Houston Chronicle (11/19/2007 08:44 AM)
The Economy's $2 Trillion Worry - Business Week (11/19/2007 06:28 AM)
Credit Red Flags Unfurling - TheStreet.com (11/19/2007 08:56 AM)
Fed likely to give investors a surprise - FT (11/19/2007 08:47 PM)
More Economists See U.S. Recession Ahead, Business Group Says - Bloomberg (11/19/2007 05:10 AM)
Crime scene: foreclosure - CNN/Money (11/19/2007 07:29 PM)

Commercial Property Now Under Pressure - WSJ ($) (11/19/2007 05:10 AM)
Swiss Re Has $1.07 Billion Credit-Default Swaps Loss - Bloomberg (11/19/2007 05:12 AM)
Radioactive Paper - Forbes (11/19/2007 05:32 AM)
Citigroup Downgraded to `Sell' at Goldman Sachs - Bloomberg (11/19/2007 06:26 AM)
By inviting in a Chinese bank, America hopes for reciprocity - Economist (11/19/2007 08:53 AM)
Money market woes and other concerns - TheStreet.com , Kass, (11/19/2007 09:03 AM)
Tech party now over - CNN/Money (11/19/2007 09:07 AM)
Crazy Little Thing Called Risk - NY Times , Peter Bernstein, (11/19/2007 03:30 PM)
Recovery in US corporate loans stalls - FT (11/19/2007 08:56 PM)
Hedge Funds Bounce Back - In a Big Way - WSJ ($) (11/19/2007 05:11 AM)
Survey: Gas Up 13 Cents in 2 Weeks - AP (11/19/2007 06:27 AM)

Lowe's 3Q Profit Falls, Cuts Outlook - AP (11/19/2007 08:27 AM)
Citigroup Downgraded to `Sell' at Goldman Sachs - Bloomberg (11/19/2007 11:25 AM)
Financials, Once a Balm, Now Hamper the Market - NY Times (11/19/2007 05:14 AM)
Impac Plans to `Significantly' Increase Loan-Loss Provisions - Bloomberg (11/19/2007 06:34 AM)
Fannie And Freddie Tumble - Forbes (11/19/2007 07:27 PM)
Alarm at rising US car loan defaults - FT (11/19/2007 08:53 PM)
Swiss Re hit by $1 bln credit market insurance loss - Boston Globe (11/19/2007 04:57 AM)
Wall Street Plans $38 Billion of Bonuses as Shareholders Lose - Bloomberg (11/19/2007 05:11 AM)

Northern Rock Won't Get Extended Aid as Bids Received - Bloomberg (11/19/2007 05:39 AM)
China voices alarm at dollar weakness - FT (11/19/2007 08:46 PM)
Wen Says `Massive' Foreign Reserves Put China Under Pressure - Bloomberg (11/19/2007 05:19 AM)
Gulf Arab funds eye US assets - FT (11/19/2007 08:50 PM)
Emerging market boom continues - Economist (11/19/2007 08:48 AM)
Crusade under way over flood insurance - Houston Chronicle (11/19/2007 08:45 AM)


From http://patrick.net/housing/crash.html
F Bay Area new house prices down 20% in two years (sfgate.com)
Fairfield, CA housing prices plunge 23% in one year (sfgate.com)
Dwindling mortgage options leaves Bay Area sales mired in misery (sfgate.com)
LA sales mired in jumbo loan slowdown (ocregister.com)
CA Inland Empire Houses for less than $200K (housing-kaboom.blogspot.com)
Forty to fifty cents on the dollar: the new reality (sptimes.com)
Mothballed developments delight squatters and meth dealers (patrick.net)
Developer-lender combos helped build a bust (realestate.msn.com)
Subprime mess is a crime story (canada.com)
Banks can't foreclose because they don't own the loans anymore (nytimes.com)
No shelter from the housing storm (articles.moneycentral.msn.com)
America's economy: Getting worried downtown (economist.com)
Goldman Sees Subprime Cutting $2 Trillion in Lending (bloomberg.com)
Could This Credit Crunch Have Been Avoided? (minyanville.com)
NAR Issues More "Now is a Great Time to Buy" Propaganda (efinancedirectory.com)
Unlocking the Riches of Oz (lvrg.org.au)
and value tax discourages speculative bubbles (en.wikipedia.org)
Dollars no good for the Taj Mahal (news.bbc.co.uk)
FBI attacks alternative to falling dollar (spokesmanreview.com)
In Paul They Trust (The Feds May Differ) (washingtonpost.com)