Friday February 1 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

CA foreclosure relief bill fails - Consumer protections that require lender to personally talk to homeowner too much for some lawmakers. - (www.latimes.com)
Subprime, CDO Bank Losses May Exceed $265 Billion, S&P Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
IndyMac to shut down construction lending - (www.ml-implode.com)
Moody’s: Rapid Amortization on HELOCs a Concern - (www.ml-implode.com)
Trying to tap into house equity? We'll see (Countrwide sends letter to customers saying they can no longer borrow against their credit line) - (www.latimes.com)
Mortgage money in short supply - (www.sfgate.com)
"Why The Housing Bubble Won't Burst": From less than 2 years ago! - (www.businessweek.com)
Broke houseowners linked to arsons - (articles.moneycentral.msn.com)
Brokers Asked to Refund Money After Buyers Walk Away - (futurerealestate.blogspot.com)
Friedman, Billings, Ramsey: First NLC Financial files for Chapter 11 - (money.cnn.com)
Bank Reserves Go Negative - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com)
It's the Housing Market Deflation - (Bill Gross at www.washingtonpost.com)
House buyer who overpaid sues her agent - (today.msnbc.msn.com)
Harry Macklowe Doesn't Own Those Seven Buildings Anymore - New ... - (nymag.com)
Real Estate Credit Crisis Squeezes Macklowe - (online.wsj.com)


This is a Must-Read Classic about another incompetent analyst and his investment firm:

Then - Story from May 2005 - Why The Housing Bubble Won't Burst: Veteran analyst Michael Youngblood explains his unusually optimistic take on the real estate market.
Now - Friedman, Billings, Ramsey: First NLC Financial files for Chapter 11

His Predictions from May 2006:
Do you think the housing bubble argument is overblown?Absolutely. It's overblown because there is no national housing market, so there can't be a national house-price bubble

What markets are likely to show the biggest price gains and declines this year?We expect the greatest gains in Bakersfield, Calif. (43%), Fort Myers, Fla. (42%), Stockton, Calif. (39%), and Punta Gorda, Fla. (35%); the biggest declines in Harrisburg, Pa. (8%), Odessa, Tex., Roanoke, Va., and Utica, N.Y. (all 6%).


Other Stories:

Dell (and other commercial companies)Walks Away (from real estate) - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com)
Jobless Claims Spike, Spending Slows, More Rate Cuts Coming - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com)
The Battle for Consumer Discretionary Spending - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com)
Ripple Impact of $534 Billion Debt Downgrade - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com)
Fed Fears Deflationary Debt Collapse- (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com)

SRM seeks to block BofA-Countrywide deal - SRM Global Fund, which has a 5.2 percent stake in Countrywide Financial Corp., says Bank of America Corp.'s proposed $4 billion ... - (www.ml-implode.com)
MBIA Reports Record Losses While Connecticut Investigates 'Less than 48 hours after it was specifically named as a target of a state investigation of major bond rating agencies and insur... - (www.ml-implode.com)
Robert Rubin: What meltdown? - (www.ml-implode.com)
Florida investigates Countrywide over mortgage practices - (www.ml-implode.com)
Subprime losses batter Japanese banks - (www.ml-implode.com)
$40M deal lets Hearst widow keep estate from foreclosure - (www.ml-implode.com)
Top Countrywide exec to run B of A mortgage unit - (www.ml-implode.com)
The Bond Insurers Bail-Out Fund - (www.ml-implode.com)

The "Prevent Affordable House Prices" Bill in Senate - (waysandmeans.house.gov)
See Where House Prices Are Falling - (efinancedirectory.com)
Prices have fallen, but not by enough - (money.cnn.com)
Initial Jobless Claims in U.S. Rose 69,000, More Than Forecast, Last Week - (www.bloomberg.com)
China’s Inflation Hits American Price Tags - (www.nytimes.com)
More Subprime Pain in Store - (online.wsj.com)
A Warning on Insurers Frays Nerves - (www.nytimes.com)
Defaults on Insured Mortgages Rise 37%, Report Shows - (www.bloomberg.com)
Wall Street Blocked By Buyout Debt - (www.washingtonpost.com)

MBIA Posts Biggest Loss, Considers New Capital Plans - (www.bloomberg.com)
Standard & Poor's casts doubt on MBIA rating - (www.ft.com)
Starbucks to Close Stores and End Sandwich Sales - (www.nytimes.com)
Bubble Graph for Kern County, CA - (patrick.net)
Fed Rate Cut Fails To Stimulate Stocks - (http://www.cnbc.com/)
Mortgage rates could rise, not fall, after Fed move - (http://www.marketwatch.com/)
Bank Reserves Go Negative - (Mish)
Pop the bubble-makers - (businessspectator.com.au)
Is the Bush Administration Trying to Take Down Fannie Mae? - (www.alternet.org)
Mounting concerns over write-downs at European banks - (www.iht.com)
Eurozone inflation soars to 14-year high - (www.ft.com)
Slower growth forecast in Mexico - (www.latimes.com)
Japan Megabanks Hit by Subprime Losses - (www.ap.com)
Overseas Buyers Getting Wary of Condo Market - (http://www.nymag.com/)
Business Gives Advice On Walking Away From Mortgage - (www.youwalkaway.com)
Stop behaving as whiner of first resort - (www.ft.com)
Farmers Wonder if Boom In Grain Prices Is a Bubble - (online.wsj.com)
Like Home-Builder Shares? Look Again - (www.nytimes.com)