Monday February 25 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Banks Lose to Deadbeat Homeowners as Loans Sold in Bonds Vanish - (www.bloomberg.com)
Housing stimulus - (www.ml-implode.com) - 'A substantial tax credit for home buyers is likely to be part of any second economic stimulus package enacted by Congress.'
Homeowners Losing Equity Lines - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Zwirn Shuts Hedge Funds After Clients Pull $2 Billion - (www.bloomberg.com)
A Sign Of Buyer Sentiment - (thehousingbubbleblog.com)
Foreclosures top sales in Las Vegas - (www.lasvegassun.com)
Deputies called to oust foreclosure squatters - (www.avpress.com)
States and FBI Preparing Loan Fraud Crackdown - (www.lasvegassun.com)
Rescues For Foolish Borrowers Weighed - (www.nytimes.com)
Mortgage rates skyrocket - (www.bankrate.com)
Leveraged Loans Loom Large - (www.businessweek.com)
Citigroup Aids Internal Funds In Credit Crisis - (online.wsj.com)


Other Stories:

Credit Card Reform Is Coming - (mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com)
"Free Lunch" Era Is Over - (mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com)
More Budget Cuts in California, New Jersey, and Florida - (mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com)
Banks Freezing HELOCs - (http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com) - 'Several of the nation's largest lenders, along with smaller ones, are shutting off access to home equity lines in areas where h...
MBIA enters the Bermuda triangle - (www.ml-implode.com) - 'MBIA (MBI) dropped 6% in trading Friday, a day after the bond insurer raised eyebrows by dropping out of a trade group it had b...
Senate plans foreclosure bill debate next week - (www.reuters.com) - The Democratic-led U.S. Senate plans to begin debate next week on a home mortgage foreclosure-prevention bill that would let ban...
Moody's cuts Channel Re, MBIA's reinsurer - (www.reuters.com)
Ambac "rescue" could be announced Mon or Tues: report - (biz.yahoo.com)
Congress to grill Mozilo, O'Neal, Prince over pay - (money.cnn.com)
The Negative Feedback Loop of the Housing Crisis and the Credit Crunch - (www.ml-implode.com)
Did The Auditors Trigger The Sell-Off of Auction Rate Securities? - (dealbreaker.com)
GMAC, ResCap cut deeper into junk by S&P - (www.reuters.com)

German State-Owned Banks on Verge of Collapse - (www.spiegel.de)
Economist sees house prices down 20 percent - (www.reuters.com)
This crash is like the others before it - (economics.harvard.edu)
Nervous times persist amid fears of the R-word - (www.ft.com)
Hedge Funds Feel New Heat - (online.wsj.com)
Rise in steel prices as raw material costs surge - (www.ft.com)
Florida Schools, California Convert Auction-Rate Debt - (www.bloomberg.com)
Meteoric Zwirn falls down to earth - (www.ft.com)
Regulator checking into auction rate securities - (www.cfo.com)
CMBX Signals Trouble In Commercial Property; 'Doesn't Make Sense' - (online.wsj.com)
Jumbo loan rates still in the air - (www.latimes.com)
AQR's Biggest Hedge Fund Fell Almost 15% Through Mid-February - (www.bloomberg.com)
Task force will study how to create S.D. land bank - (www.signonsandiego.com)
The breakdown of Wall Street alchemy - (www.atimes.com)
Analysts see trouble at investment banks - (news.moneycentral.msn.com)
Bond Insurer Plans a Split to Protect Ratings - (www.nytimes.com)
Fannie and Freddie Losses To Offer Gauge on Defaults - (online.wsj.com)
Merrill warns on Fannie, Freddie stock - (www.latimes.com)
GMAC Credit Rating Falls Deeper Into Junk - (online.wsj.com)
New tactic: Don't forgive debt; postpone repayment - (money.cnn.com)
FBI Will Not Go After Borrowers Who Lied - (homeguide123.com)
Has housing lost its investment appeal? - (lansner.freedomblogging.com)
The Inflation Con Game - (seekingalpha.com)
That 70's Look: Stagflation - (www.nytimes.com)
Ambac May Get $3 Billion in New Capital, Person Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
CIFG's Aaa Insurer Rating May Be Cut, Moody's Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
MBIA vocal about splitting business - (www.thestreet.com)
Lenders axe 100%-plus home loans - (www.ft.com)
Credit crunch contagion has bonds cover at record high - (business.timesonline.co.uk)
Zillow estimate of $200,500 is very wrong: - (www.zillow.com)
Same house is actually for sale at $137,900 - (realestate.yahoo.com)
A ‘Moral Hazard’ for a Housing Bailout: Sorting the Victims From Those Who Volunteered - (www.nytimes.com)
Moral difficulties of unwinding financial crises - (www.ft.com)
The Double Standard in Crisis Resolution - (www.nytimes.com)