Monday February 4 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Businesses push for US tax cut on asset sales (not surprising) - (www.ft.com)
Hard to feel sorry for borrowers - (instapundit.com)
Trying to tap into home equity? We'll see - (www.latimes.com)
U.S. Payrolls Decline for First Time in Four Years - (www.bloomberg.com)
Big Homes, Big Problems - (www.newsweek.com)
"No Housing Bubble" guy's division in bankruptcy now - (patrick.net)
8 Banks Discuss Aid for Bond Insurer - (www.nytimes.com)
Doh! Merrill to reimburse Springfield for investments - (money.cnn.com)
Jim Rogers: 'It's going to be much worse' - (money.cnn.com)
Lenders Who Sold and Left - (www.nytimes.com)
The Pools of Riverside County - (www.nytimes.com)
Say It Ain't So, Municipal Bonds Are the New Junk: Joe Mysak - (www.bloomberg.com)
JP Morgan Scales Back House-Equity Lending - (www.thestreet.com)
Foreclosure filings accelerating - (www,businessweek.com)
Merrill Lynch to Reimburse Massachusetts City for CDO Purchase - (www.bloomberg.com)
Small Law Firm’s Big Role in Bundling Mortgages - (www.nytimes.com)


Other Stories:

Foreclosures move into tony ZIP codes - (www.oregonlive.com)
Big Homes, Big Problems – (www.newsweek.com)
Plenty of Blame for Mortgage Mess - (www.sfgate.com)
NY Home Prices Start to Dip, Recalling ’90s Slump - (www.nytimes.com)
La Caixa warns of funding challenge – (www.ft.com)
Stock market woes take toll on hedge funds - (www.ft.com)
Loan market in 'disarray' after Harrah's upset - (www.ft.com)

Housing Meltdown - (www.businessweek.com)
First Job Losses in 4 Years Raise Recession Fears - (www.nytimes.com)
Greenspan defends subprime role to Swedish bankers - (www.reuters.com)
How to Lose $7.2 Billion: A Trader's Tale - (online.wsj.com)
Subprime Lenders Get Big Accounting Break - (www.bloomberg.com)
Mortgages Should Become Cheaper - (www.fool.co.uk)
Banks link to solve bond insurers crisis - (www.ft.com)
The Subprime Cleanup Intensifies - (online.wsj.com)
Lies, Damn Lies, and the National Association of Realtors - (webtracy.blogspot.com)
US banks warned on housing market risks - (www.ft.com)
US junk bonds hit a trough - (www.ft.com)
Who crashed the economy? - (whocrashedtheeconomy.com)
Bernanke hits the joy button - (www.atimes.com)
The Fed's Lose-Lose Decision - (www.seekingalpha.com)
Financials Cause Slide in S&P 500 Profit - (www.ap.com)
Macklowe to Sell GM Building This Month to Pay Debt, People Say - (www.bloomberg.com)

Massachusetts Accuses Merrill of Fraud - (www.nytimes.com)
UBS facing subprime banking investigations: report - (www.reuters.com)
Goldman Says Banks May Face Up to $60 Billion in Writedowns - (www.bloomberg.com)
The Republicans are in trouble - (eyeonmiami.blogspot.com)
Fired Worker Sues KB, Countrywide - (money.cnn.com)
Traders Gag on Google - (www.thestreet.com)
Bristol-Myers hit by credit crisis - (www.ft.com)
Dinallo's Rescue Plan Focuses on Ambac, People Say - (www.bloomberg.com)
RBS and Barclays join banks in $15bn bond insurer bailout plan - (business.timesonline.co.uk)
Subprime Hole Deepens For Japan's Biggest Banks - (online.wsj.com)
Real-estate recession needs realistic sellers - (palmbeachpost.com)
Barack vs. Hillary on Housing - (optionarmageddon.blogspot.com)
The Boom Was a Bust For Ordinary People - (www.washingtonpost.com)
A Sequel to the Subprime Mess? - (www.newsweek.com)