Friday December 14 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

California Pension May Move $29 Billion Out of Stocks and Bonds - (www.bloomberg.com)
State's (CA) budget shortfall widens - (www.latimes.com)
Citi to consolidate $49bn of its SIVs - (www.ft.com)
Puts further strain on overstretched finances - 00:59
Market can cure housing illness - (www.star-telegram.com)
Spain's Sinking Property Market May Roil Europe - (www.bloomberg.com)
No, Pending House Sales Index Did Not Rise - (www.seekingalpha.com)
Foreclosures in Central Valley (CA) continue to soar - (www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com)
Morgan Stanley issues full US recession alert - (www.telegraph.uk.co)
Phoenix home resales slowed to crawl in November - (www.azcentral.com)
Colorado foreclosures set record - (www.denverpost.com)
Floyd Norris: Governments put a new twist on bailouts - (www.iht.com)
Countrywide Subpoenaed by Illinois - (www.nytimes.com)
Hedge-Fund Guy Is Up SIV Creek Without a Paddle: Mark Gilbert - (www.bloomberg.com)


Other Stories:

Global shares hit by bank plan doubt - (www.ft.com)
Global equities suffered heavy falls as investor doubts grew over whether sweeping measures by central banks to tackle the credit crunch would be sufficient to defuse the crisis - 02:18
Citi to consolidate $49bn of its SIVs - (www.ft.com)
Puts further strain on overstretched finances - 00:59
Citigroup management shake-up begins

Investors Still Skeptical About Credit Rescue Plans - (www.cnbc.com)
Rescue plans are creeping up everywhere for a hobbled U.S. financial system, but investors remain skeptical that any will work.
Mixed Reviews From CNBC Guests
Cramer: Fed Needs Reality Check
Citi Takes SIVs onto Balance Sheet, Druskin to Retire - (www.cnbc.com)
Japan Business Sentiment Hits Two-Year Low: Tankan - (www.cnbc.com)

The Capital of Slumping House Sales - (www.nytimes.com)
Mortgage crisis perplexes even shrewd investor Warren Buffett - (www.sfgate.com)
Mortgage Freeze Violates Law - (patrick.net)
Yet another letter to Barbara Boxer - (patrick.net)
Responsible Consumers Decry Mortgage Bailout - (www.npr.org)
Rate cut won't help housing market - (www.marketwatch.com) – Audio file
U.S. November Producer Prices Rise 3.2%; Core Up 0.4% - (www.bloomberg.com)
Ben must be worried - (www.nypost.com)
U.S. Holiday Sales Drop for Second Week, Research Group Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. November Retail Sales Rise More Than Forecast - (www.bloomberg.com)
Fed Tries to Separate Market Strains From Economy - (www.bloomberg.com)
Home prices drive state mirgration - (www.thestreet.com).com
Tougher water-use restrictions would cover South Florida north to Orlando - (www.denverpost.com)
Subprime hotline gets less than 4% response from subprime borrowers - (biz.yahoo.com)Conservative investors singled out for punishment by government - (www.minyanville.com)
The Mirage of the Mortgage Fix - (www.lewrockwell.com)
Mortgage Mess Gets Messier - (www.businessweek.com)
63% of U.S. Housing Markets are Overvalued - (efinancedirectory.com)
Be leery of those mortgage-meltdown fixes - (www.nashuatelegraph.com)
Euribor Rate Unchanged, Signaling Money-Market Freeze Persists - (www.bloomberg.com)
Central Banks Fail to Thaw Money Markets as Rates Stay High - (www.bloomberg.com)
Citigroup to Consolidate Seven SIVs on Balance Sheet - (www.bloomberg.com)
Enthusiasm Wanes for Fund to Bail Out SIVs - (online.wsj.com) ($)
Central Bankers to Lend Billions in Credit Crisis - (www.nytimes.com)
Crisis unabated despite central bank assault - (www.reuters.com)
Gnomes of Zurich clock calamity in the making - (www.telegraph.co.uk)
Why the Fed bailout might not work - (cnn.money.com)
Asset-Backed Paper Declines to Lowest in Two Years - (www.bloomberg.com)
Banks have $212bn at risk in property - (www.ft.com) ($)
CDO downgrades break new records - (www.ft.com) ($)
Red Kite Metals Hedge Fund Lost About 22% Last Month - (www.bloomberg.com)
Analysts Late to the Alarm - (www.washingtonpost.com)

Goldman CEO may break bonus record - (cnn.money.com)
RETAIL Sales figures suffer as shoppers dawdle - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Airline profit outlook for 2008 dims, especially in U.S. - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Lehman Beats Estimates After Limiting Mortgage Losses - (www.bloomberg.com)
Pilots will derail mergers if ignored - (www.ajc.com)
Ambac Reinsures $29 Billion Portfolio to Help Capital - (www.bloomberg.com)
Blankfein pay set to hit $70m - (www.ft.com) ($)
Japan's business confidence slumps - (www.ft.com)

Helicopters start dropping bundles of cash - (www.ft.com) ($)
Can Things Get Worse? - (www.nytimes.com)
Monetary policy is out of sync - (www.ft.com) ($)