Monday March 31 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

http://docs.google.com/TeamPresent?docid=ddp4zq7n_0cdjsr4fn&skipauth=true - very funny cartoon subprime primer (subprime for idiots) :-)
Upscale condos on auction block - Inside Bay Area - (www.insidebayarea.com) - $550K condos now being auctioned starting at $245K. Unfortunately, homeowner association dues range from $389 to around $520 a month based on the unit
Housing Woes Shake Bank In California - (online.wsj.com)
Condo Meltdown: Developer halts project, faces millions in liens - (www.dailybusinessreview.com)
COUP ALERT: Bush and Paulson want to give even MORE powers to the Federal Reserve Bank. Be afraid America, be very afraid - (www.ml-implode.com) - 'The Federal Reserve was supposed to regulate the lending industry and didn't. Maybe that was the plan - offload the responsibil...
Treasury Dept. Plan Would Give Fed Wide New Power - (www.bloomberg.com) – Giving the Fed more power is all wrong. Never give the people who caused the original problem more power.
KB Home on Housing: "No meaningful improvement in near term" - (www.ml-implode.com)
Banks Fail to Lower Mortgage Rates as Bernanke Cuts - (www.bloomberg.com)
As Deals Crash, Investors Flee Hedge Funds - (online.wsj.com)
Buyers' Revenge: Trash the House After Foreclosure - (online.wsj.com)
French Consumer Confidence Slides to Record Low, Deficit Widens - (www.bloomberg.com)
cbs5.com - Oakland Condo Glut Leaves Developers In Dilemma - (www.cbs5.com)
Floridians Forgo Beer, Take $200 Vacations as House Prices Fall - (www.bloomberg.com)
Dear Citigroup Customer... - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com)
Thornburg: $1B Or Bust - (www.forbes.com)


Other Stories:

LI leads state in subprime foreclosures - (www.ml-implode.com) - As the housing crisis continues to ripple across New York State, it is hitting certain communities far harder than others, accor...
Suspicious minds caught in Iceland trap - (www.ft.com)
Bush Readies Mortgage Aid Plan - (www.ml-implode.com)
Only 29 Percent of Americans Approve of a Government-Led Mortgage Bailout - (www.ml-implode.com)
Owner, Son & Accountant for Fidelity Home Mortgage Corp Indicted On Tax Fraud Charges - (www.ml-implode.com)
KPMG Under Fire - (www.ml-implode.com)

U.S. Housing: The Big Picture by the Numbers - (seekingalpha.com)
American house prices -- Grim realty - (www.economist.com)
The Housing Market Is Not Making a Comeback - (www.homeguide123.com)
Superbear says there's more to come - (www.rgemonitor.com)
NAR Optimists Drubbed by their Own Dismal Data - (www.seekingalpha.com)
Taleb Outsells Greenspan as Black Swan Gives Worst Turbulence - (www.bloomberg.com)

Sweeping Changes in Paulson Plan - (online.wsj.com)
Inside The Paulson Plan - (www.forbes.com)
Treasury Wants to Reshape Regulation - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Fed May Rethink Greenspan's Hands-Off Approach Towards Bubbles - (www.bloomberg.com)
Fed Leaders Ponder an Expanded Mission - (www.washingtonpost.com)

Don't be fooled by "low" prices - (howtostopathief.blog.com)
Intuition tells me people are going mad - (intuitiveblogger-intuition.blogspot.com)
Stop The Mortgage Bailout! - (www.nationalbubble.com)
UBS Lowers Price of Security Seen as 'Cash' - (online.wsj.com)
Higher-Quality Loans May Trip Merrill Next - (www.thestreet.com)
Odd Crop Prices Defy Economics - (www.nytimes.com)
UBS to Mark Down Auction-Rate Securities - (money.cnn.com)
House sellers more realistic - (www.floridatoday.com)
Reconsidering the Deflation Risk - (www.seekingalpha.com)
Equity Loans as Next Round in Credit Crisis - (www.nytimes.com)
Rising Credit Card Delinquencies - (http://www.researchrecap.com/)
US House Prices Down 15% - (http://www.seekingalpha.com/)
CA House prices down 26% in February - (www.investorvillage.com)

Lehman Target of $250 Million Swindle in Japan, Journal Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
Lehman May Be Victim of Fraud - (online.wsj.com)
Countrywide Exec Gets $28 Million from Bank of America - (www.cnbc.com)
High Rice Cost Creating Fears of Asia Unrest - (www.nytimes.com)
ECB to offer markets 150 billion euros as analysts warn of wider crisis - (news.yahoo.com)
The Foreclosure Machine - (www.nytimes.com)