Wednesday February 6 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Homebuilders get creative to make sales - (www.minnesotapublicradio.org)
CDO Market Is Almost Frozen, Merrill, JP Morgan Say (of course it deserves to be frozen due to Merrill, JP Morgan, Citigroup, etc.) - (www.bloomberg.com)
Home Moving Company Allied Van Lines Files for Bankruptcy - (www.forbes.com)
Housing Crisis Casts a Cloud Over Sun Belt (some good examples of individuals making $50K buying 2 houses and overextending themselves) - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Reverse mortgages a growing concern - (www.ajc.com)
Swap Market Is No Place for School Districts to Play: Joe Mysak - (www.bloomberg.com)
Apollo, Bain LBOs Lose Investors' Money, Bonds Show - (www.bloomberg.com)
Cities Fight Glut of Vacant Houses - (www.ap.com)
GMAC Posts $724 Million Loss as Home Loans Sour - (www.bloomberg.com)
MBIA's AAA Rating Placed Back Under Review by Fitch (for the umpteenth time) - (www.bloomberg.com)
Canadian Banks Agree to Support Commercial Paper (can we say another superfund bailout attempt?) - (www.bloomberg.com)
Subprime Markdowns Reach U.S. Central, Credit Unions - (www.bloomberg.com)
Stimulus plan (allowing FNM, FRE to buy loans greater than $417K) a scam to benefit the rich - (www.sfgate.com)
It's too late to overcome housing bubble burst - (www.modbee.com)
As money grows tight, houses shrink - (www.sptimes.com)
In development sometimes you roll snake eyes - (www.nashvillecitypaper.com)


Other Stories:

Lenders freeze equity lines in response to tumbling property values - 'Several banks issued statements temporarily suspending withdrawals from open home equity lines out o... – (www.ml-implode.com)
Fremont Investment and Loan Downgraded; Faces Liquidity Problems – (www.ml-implode.com)
U.S. Stocks Fall After Service Industries Unexpectedly Shrink – (www.bloomberg.com)
Wheat Surges Past $10 a Bushel in Chicago on Shrinking Supplies - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. Service Industries Index Unexpectedly Contracts to Lowest Since 2001 - (www.bloomberg.com)
Economy Fitful, Americans Start to Pay as They Go - (www.nytimes.com)
Even credit-worthy borrowers face more hurdles - (www.usatoday.com)
Credit Cards Are Playing Harder to Get - (online.wsj.com)
Insurance rates going up for many drivers - (www.chron.com)
Risk of property defaults growing - (www.ft.com)
Company Default Risk Rises as Recession, Lending Concerns Mount - (www.bloomberg.com)
CDO Ratings to Fall as Losses Trigger Fitch Overhaul - (www.bloomberg.com)
Moody's May Cut A$83 Billion of Mortgage-Backed Bonds - (http://www.bloomberg.com/)
A Few Thoughts on Dot-coms, Housing, Bubbles, and Bobbles - (http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/)
Time to reappraise appraisers - (www.star-telegram.com)
GM Is Still Facing Tricky Curves - (online.wsj.com)
Monolines downgrades could hit banks - (www.ft.com)
XL Loses $1.1 Billion on Stake in Bond Insurer Security Capital - (www.bloomberg.com)
5 Chrysler plants halt production - (www.chicagotribune.com)
United to charge non-frequent fliers $25 to check 2nd suitcase - (www.signonsandiego.com)
It's Not Just the Business Cycle - (robertreich.blogspot.com)
Downey Financial: A Runaway Train of Defaulting Borrowers - (seekingalpha.com)
House equity loan defaults soar - (money.cnn.com)
Australia raises interest rates - (www.ft.com)
U.K. January House Prices Stagnate on Credit Woes - (http://www.bloomberg.com/)
Why it is so hard to keep the financial sector caged - (http://www.ft.com/)
Fed Rate Cut is a Bailout for Banks - (efinancedirectory.com)
Greenspan pushed risky loans - (articles.moneycentral.msn.com)
Retailers may post their worst January sales growth - (http://www.marketwatch.com/)
What is Equity? - (www.irvinehousingblog.com)
All Downhill From Here, Baby! - (www.sonomahousingbubble.blogspot.com)