Tuesday February 12 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Can’t make this stuff up - Florida Taking Its Toll (Brothers) On Daughter's Condo - 'Wendy Topkis, daughter of Toll Brothers co-founder and Vice-Chairman Bruce Toll, is walking away from Toll condo - (www.ml-implode.com)
Refinancing: Only for the privileged few - (money.cnn.com)
Lenders pinch borrowing on lines of credit - (www.sfgate.com)
2 experts see housing slump just beginning - (www.chron.com)
Bailout watch: Washington works in mysterious ways - (latimesblogs.latimes.com)
San Jose Mercury News - North Richmond crime unsettling to neighbors (who have a wall separating them from the military zone) - (www.mercurynews.com)
Jumbo Loan Increase May Not Stem Housing Decline - (www.bloomberg.com)
Fannie Mae faces worse credit - (www.businessweek.com)
Stimulus Package Will Hasten Collapse of Fannie and Freddie - (www.prospect.org)
Los Angeles Housing Prices Fall Below Half-Million - (www.labusinessjournal.com)
G7 approves IMF gold sales (could this be to depress the price of Gold?) - (www.reuters.com)
AIG Discloses Accounting `Weakness,' Stock Declines (write-down of over aditional $4B in October, November) - (www.bloomberg.com)
New York's budget deficit deepens (any wonder why they are suing everyone) - (www.businessweek.com)
Ford May Cut 9,000 More U.S. Plant Jobs, Person Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
Subprime Crisis Festers in New York (if any states deserve subprime problems, they are NY, CA) - (www.nytimes.com)


Other Stories:

Countrywide (promises to) to aid more borrowers - Under the latest plan, borrowers with subprime hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages, which typically were issued with a low "teaser"... - (www.ml-implode.com)
ACA Financial Guaranty Announces Letters of Intent to Sell U.S. Asset Management Businesses - (www.ml-implode.com)
Banks Need Bailouts, But Where's The Money? - (www.ml-implode.com)
StanChart SIV Plan Fails; Receiver to Be Named - (www.ml-implode.com)
Should Lenders be Allowed to Participate in the Mortgage Clean Up Process? - (www.ml-implode.com)


The Rise of the Mortgage 'Walkers' - (online.wsj.com)
Bernanke out of options - (Warning: very vulgar language) - (market-ticker.denninger.net)
Gold, Silver Futures Increase on Demand for Inflation Hedge - (www.bloomberg.com)
Oil Rises to 1-Month High on Refinery Shutdown, Cold Weather - (www.bloomberg.com)
AIG stock tumbles on heightened CDO concerns - (www.marketwatch.com)
Treasuries Rise as AIG's Disclosure Prompts Move to Safety - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. Stocks Gain as Oil Shares Rally, Offsetting Credit Concern - (www.bloomberg.com)

'Headwind' Blows as Top Executives Navigate Trouble - (online.wsj.com)
Union membership grows most since 1983 - (www.azcentral.com)
Ohio Lottery is expanding under Strickland - (www.stateline.org)
PA: Don't bet on gaming tables for tax relief - (www.stateline.org)
As Toll dodgers get creative, eyes of E-ZPass are watching - (www.nytimes.com)

CDO Losses Driving Credit-Default Swaps to Record, Analysts Say - (www.bloomberg.com)
Auction-Bond Failures Spread to Student Loan Debt - (www.bloomberg.com)
New Hitches In Markets – (online.wsj.com)
Bond Insurance Turns Toxic for Cities, Colleges as Rates Soar - (www.bloomberg.com)
Trading in CDOs slows to a trickle - (www.ft.com)
Sovereign wealth funds dismiss U.S. code of conduct - (www.nytimes.com)
Credit writedowns may total $175B - analyst - (money.cnn.com)
Theory Gains That Trader Had a Helper - (www.nytimes.com)
AIG's subprime hit - (www.ft.com)
Fuel prices to trigger airline mergers - (www.nypost.com)
The Dark Side of the Economic Stimulus Package - (baglady.dreamhosters.com)
OFHEO Questions Mortgage Proposal - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Banana Republicans join Free Spending Democrats - (patrick.net)
Lenders Are Still Not Prudent in Miami Real Estate Financing - (eyeonmiami.blogspot.com)
Wachovia loans questioned - (www.charlotte.com)
Housing Futures Continue Rapid Descent - (seekingalpha.com)
Societe Generale Plans Offer to Raise EU5.5 Billion - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.K. Producer Prices Rise at Fastest Pace Since 1991 - (www.bloomberg.com)
Fallout From the Fed - (online.wsj.com)
Europe's Economy May Stay Sick Longer After Catching U.S. Cold - (www.bloomberg.com)
Securitisation encouraged lax mortgage lending - (www.economist.com)
Creators of Credit Crisis Revel in Las Vegas - (www.nytimes.com)
Credit crisis 'here to stay,' say top bankers - (guardian.co.uk)
Bad Debt: $100 Billion, $400 Billion, Who's Counting? - (www.prospect.org)
Shiller on current situation - (www.youtube.com)
How to get off catalog and credit card lists - (www.chron.com)
Lessons of the credit crunch - (www.ft.com)
Three wiser men - central bankers digest the lessons of the credit crunch - (www.ft.com)