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) ($)