Thursday March 6 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

CNN Warns Americans A New Great Depression Is Coming - (www.ml-implode.com) - The American economy is propped up on faith and credit, and Wall Street is now in a short supply of both of these essentials
Italy supports bond market as spreads soar - (www.telegraph.co.uk) - The Italian treasury has taken the highly unusual step of intervening in the debt markets. Bond market issues spreading to Italy, Greece, Portugal, Belgium and Spain
Agency Mortgage-Backed Bond Spreads Reach Highest Since 1986 - (www.bloomberg.com)
Mortgage lenders take tough stance on deposits - (www.ft.com)
SEC Probes Municipal Derivative Deals - (www.ap.com)
Merrill Exits Subprime Lending, Cuts 650 Jobs at First Franklin - (www.bloomberg.com)
Bernanke Urges Banks to Deploy Helicopters - (www.bloomberg.com)
Foreclosure storm forces court to extend hours in FL County - (www.tcpalm.com)
Defaults on insured U.S. mortgages climb 31% - (www.freep.com)
Citigroup at 9-year low on write-down worries - (www.reuters.com)
Realtors Encourage Faster Relisting Fraud - (www.washingtonpost.com)
14 Calif. counties get maximum FHA limit, taxpayers on hook - (nalert.blogspot.com)
Hunter among hedge funds is now the hunted - (www.ft.com)
Ga. bills target high foreclosure numbers - (www.ajc.com) - more laws and bills being pitched in a disjointed fashion
Peloton ABS Fund Investors May Get Nothing Back - (www.bloomberg.com)
Highland threatened by tumbling debt prices - (www.ft.com)



Other Stories:

Citi Turns To Bond Market - 'Citigroup, under pressure to raise capital, is making a big bet that it can raise money from yield-hungry investors. It is sell... - (www.ml-implode.com)
Italy supports bond market as spreads soar - [2008-03-05] - 'The Italian treasury has taken the highly unusual step of intervening in the debt markets to prevent a further surge in governm...
Thornburg: Lender to Use Default Rights - 'Thornburg Mortgage Says JPMorgan Will Exercise Default Rights; Shares Down 39 Pct. After-Hours' - (www.ml-implode.com)
Merrill Lynch Discontinues First Franklin Mortgage Origination; Will Explore Sale of Home Loan Services - (www.ml-implode.com)
Kennedy Homes sues bank - (www.ml-implode.com)
Ambac Equity Raising Only 60% of Earlier Target - (www.ml-implode.com)
WSJ: Countrywide Postpones Foreclosure Sales Amid Allegations - (www.ml-implode.com)
Ambac trading halted on NYSE - (www.ml-implode.com)

The case for foreclosures - (www.slate.com)
Very weird $11M foreclosure in Atherton - (patrick.net)
The year's scariest investing news - (articles.moneycentral.msn.com)
Interest Rate Policy Madness - (Mish)
Bernanke sees more house price drops - (news.yahoo.com)
Merits of New Mortgage Aid Are Debated - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Gulf investors not enough to rescue Citigroup - (www.financialpost.com)
Record low Bay Area business confidence - (www.sfgate.com)
Prices: A Rise Too Far? - (www.fnarena.com)
Canadians more loath to buy a house - (www.reportonbusiness.com)
The coming financial pandemic - (www.nationalpost.com)
Unlike Consumers, Companies Are Piling Up Cash - (www.nytimes.com)
Fannie might stop accepting fraudulent appraisals - (optionarmageddon.blogspot.com)

Gold, Silver Rally in N.Y. on Rising Demand for Inflation Hedge - (www.bloomberg.com)
Oil Rises Above $104 to Record on OPEC Output, Venezuela Tanks - (www.bloomberg.com)
Ten-Year Treasuries Fall as Fed Regional Survey Cites Inflation - (www.bloomberg.com)
Ambac Seeks $1.5 Billion in Stock, Equity Unit Sales - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. Stocks Gain, Led by Commodity Producers; Financials Drop - (www.bloomberg.com)

Productivity in U.S. Rose 1.9% in Fourth Quarter; Labor Costs Gained 2.6% - (www.bloomberg.com)
ADP Says U.S. Companies Reduced Payrolls in February - (www.bloomberg.com)
Bernanke Wants Banks To Rework Mortgages - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Bernanke Call for Mortgage Forgiveness Puts Pressure on Paulson - (www.bloomberg.com)
Step by Step, Bush and Fed Move on Mortgage Rescue - (www.nytimes.com)
Filings for Bankruptcy Up 18% in February - (www.nytimes.com)
U.S. Mortgage applications rose last week: MBA - (www.reuters.com)
Arizona business growth slowing - (www.azcentral.com)
Fla.: Budget Woes Mark Session Start - (www.ap.com)

Auction-Rate Bond Failures Approach 70%, Show No Sign of Easing - (www.bloomberg.com)
OPEC agrees to keep oil output steady - (www.bloomberg.com)
Refunding Risk: Another Blow for Markets - (www.cfo.com)
Hedge fund fears push up Libor rates - (www.ft.com)
The makings of an oil supply crunch - (www.ft.com)
Money-Market Rates Rise, May Signal Return of Credit Gridlock - (www.bloomberg.com)
Ambac Seeks $1.5 Billion in Stock, Equity Unit Sales - (www.bloomberg.com)
Thornburg Mortgage Gets Default Notice, Stock Falls - (www.bloomberg.com)
As sales fall, a downshift at Ford's Chicago plant - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Ryland Fined Over Lending - (online.wsj.com)

Premier Wen Names Inflation, Overheating as Key Risks - (www.bloomberg.com)
China Vows to Control Inflation - (www.freep.com)
Credit Agricole Has Fourth-Quarter Loss on Writedowns - (www.bloomberg.com)
Housing market slowing in Europe - (news.bbc.co.uk)

Double Bubble Trouble - (www.nytimes.com)
Mark to Meltdown? - (online.wsj.com)