Tuesday March 25 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Crony capitalism: In the face of Wall Street panic, the Fed is subsidising the biggest and most powerful investment banks - (www.guardian.co.uk)
Hillary Clinton has a massive brainfart, calls on Alan Greenspan (who created the housing mess) to head a special panel to solve the housing problem - (www.ml-implode.com)- Fox, meet henhouse...
Rule of thumb. Never count on idiots who got you into a mess to fix the mess after the fact.

Truckers ‘going broke’ and threatening to strike - (www.qctimes.com) – Truckers strike planned April 1, 2008
Cities grapple with surge in abandoned homes - (www.ml-implode.com) - ``In western New York, the city of Buffalo filed a lawsuit on February 21 against 36 lenders -- including big names like JPMorgan Chase & Co Inc and Countrywide Financial Corp -- who were involved in 57 foreclosures that led to properties being abandoned and ultimately demolished by authorities.''
Iceland shows cracks as the krona crashes - (www.telegraph.co.uk)
Banks Plot Public Bailout - (www.roguegovernment.com)
Welcome to "Bailout Nation" - (www.ml-implode.com) - 'And now US homeowners, justifiably, will scream that the government cares more about Wall Street fat cats than it does about th...
Insurers deal new blow to house buyers - (www.miamiherald.com)
When media coverage, industry interests clash - (www.inman.com)
Federal Home Loan Banks May Buy $100 Billion of Mortgage Bonds - (www.bloomberg.com) – Government finds another way to blow $100B in bailouts. Add this to the $400B last week and $500B from previous months.
JPMorgan Quadruples Bear Stearns Bid to Win Over Shareholders - (www.bloomberg.com)
Wall Street Firms Cut 34,000 Jobs, Most Since 2001 Dot-Com Bust - (www.bloomberg.com)
More commercial real estate loans go on the block - (www.financialweek.com)
Leery Lenders Demand More From Borrowers - (biz.yahoo.com)
Can U.S. avert a Japan-style economic bust? - (www.csmonitor.com)


Other Stories:

Wells Fargo CEO open to a 'Fed-assisted' deal - (www.ml-implode.com) - Look what you've done now, Bernanke. Now every fat cat banker is lining up for a handout, in the form of guaranteed buyouts of ...
February Existing Home Sales Fell 23.8% - (www.ml-implode.com) - ``Year over year changes showed that single family home sales were 23.8% below February 2007 levels. The national median sales ...
Investors rode housing boom, and now many are going bust - (www.ml-implode.com)- 'Homeowners, lenders and investors in mortgage-backed securities shoulder a lot of the pain from the mortgage mess. '
Fed May Buy Mortgages Next, Treasury Investors Bet - (www.ml-implode.com)
Carrington asks for $200m to replace bank loans - (www.ml-implode.com)

Why We Borrow Until It Hurts - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Treasuries Fall as Stocks, Mortgage Purchase Ease Haven Appeal - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. Stocks Rise; Bear Stearns, Tiffany, Monsanto Shares Climb - (www.bloomberg.com)
Car title lenders driving up Americans' debt - (www.chron.com)
Fair-value rules get more blame for crunch - (www.financialweek.com)
S&P drops its outlook for National City Corp. - (www.ml-implode.com)
Why an Economic Slowdown May Not Contain Inflation - (www.ml-implode.com)
Political Pendulum Swings Toward Stricter Regulation - (online.wsj.com)
With Economy Tied to Wall St., New York Braces for Job Cuts - (www.nytimes.com)
"Pay day" loans exacerbate housing crisis – (www.reuters.com)
Articles of Impeachment? Bear Stearns Buyout Illegal? - (market-ticker.denninger.net)
Glut of Unsold Housing in Santa Clara County - (patrick.net)
Napa County foreclosure data - (www.napavalleyregister.com)
The Impact of AU Technology on Subprime Lending - (www.lendingsanity.com)
NAR Propaganda - (optionarmageddon.blogspot.com)
Signs of Trouble - (www.nytimes.com)
Is the US economy heading for a collapse? - (www.rediff.com)

Corporate liquidity begins to dry up - (www.financialweek.com)
Qualified borrowers face credit squeeze - (www.boston.com)
Mortgage assets 'are likely target' - (www.ft.com)
When banks cannot trust each other - (www.economist.com)
The ins and outs of the Fed's open window - (www.thedeal.com)
Private-equity firms showing strain - (www.usatoday.com)
Who Says Private Equity Is Dead? - (www.cfo.com)
In the Fed's Cross Hairs: Exotic Game - (www.nytimes.com)
Fed's bold moves: Band-Aid or breakthrough? - (www.sfgate.com)
It's Hard to Thaw a Frozen Market - (www.nytimes.com)
It's High Time to Re-Regulate Banking - (www.spiegel.de)
The Financial System: What went wrong - (www.economist.com)

Banks should brace for added regulation - (www.financialweek.com)
Crumbling Profit Center – (online.wsj.com)
JPMorgan in Negotiations to Raise Bear Stearns Bid - (www.nytimes.com)
Citigroup Slips to Also-Ran After 10 Years as Biggest U.S. Bank - (www.bloomberg.com)
Against the Grain: Food Firms Hedge Costs - (online.wsj.com)
China Stocks Fall as Speculation Wanes State to Boost Market - (www.bloomberg.com)
Central banks go separate ways – (www.economist.com)
Japan corporate mood gloomy amid economic woes - (www.boston.com)
China Facing Renewed Fuel Shortages - (www.ap.com)
A glum outlook from Japanese firms - (www.iht.com)
Rising costs forcing some South Korean factory owners to flee China - (www.iht.com)