Monday April 14 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

http://www.netcastdaily.com/broadcast/fsn2008-0412-1.ram - Idiot politician of the week: Listen to minutes 40-43 of the clip. Congresswoman in California scolding the oil executives about high prices, but tells them she doesn’t want to hear anything about drilling (even though oil is seeping off the coast near Santa Barbara), restarting an existing oil refinery in Whittier CA, or other solutions. At the same time, others in her party are blocking wind farms off the coast in MA
Wind farm initiative off Cape clears big obstacle - The Boston Globe - (www.boston.com) - Idiot politicians #2: Ted Kennedy and Mitt Romney trying to kill wind farm off Cape Cod because it would be unsightly to the Kennedy compound and would kill the sailing lanes
Jury Says Realtor Not to Blame for Purchase Price - (www.voiceofsandiego.org) - A jury sided Thursday with Carlsbad real estate broker Mike Little in a closely watched lawsuit that pitted a local couple against the agent that helped them buy a home. The couple, Vern and Marty Ummel, claimed that Little neglected to mention recent sales in their neighborhood, leading them to overpay by about $150,000 for their home in July 2005
Maryland Foreclosure Law Changes - (www.housingwire.com) - 'The legislation significantly lengthens the foreclosure process from 15 days to approximately 150 days, by requiring a lender to wait 90 days after default before filing the foreclosure action and to send a uniform Notice of Intent to Foreclose to the homeowner 45 days prior to filing an action.'
Lehman makes move to turn unsold debt to cash - (http://www.reuters.com/)
Lehman Moved to Turn Unsold Debt to Cash: WSJ - (us.rd.yahoo.com) – Sounds like Lehman, Fed, and S&P/Moodys conspiring to dump Lehman’s bad corporate debt on the Fed and US taxpayers
Mish: The Swap-O-Rama Gets Crazier - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com) – More on shameless Lehman.
Jury set to get case of unhappy Carlsbad homebuyers - (www.nctimes.com)
Fence Sitters Will Be Sorry - (www.voiceofsandiego.org) – More crap coming out of a realtor’s mouth
U.S. Consumer Confidence Index Falls to 26-Year Low - (www.bloomberg.com)
Foreclosures in Key West's Most Expensive Neighborhoods - (keywestchronicle.blogspot.com)
Fraud Leads To 286 Foreclosures - (www.10news.com)
Senate passes crappy foreclosure bill - (www.politicalgateway.com) – Helps homebuilders, lenders, mortgage brokers, but will it help anyone stay in their homes?
Tax breaks, boondoggles mar efforts to help homedebtors - (news.yahoo.com)
Senate Agrees to Mortgage Bailout for Bankers and Builders - (www.efinancedirectory.com)
Illegal workers paying chunk of Social Security taxes - (www.azcentral.com) – Biased story which doesn’t discuss people being paid under the table.
Fed Readies for a Reload - (www.independent.co.uk)
UPDATE - Banks may need to raise $140 bln more of capital: CS - (www.reuters.com)


Other Stories:

Citigroup's Market Value Drops Below Apple's Amid Credit Crisis - (www.ml-implode.com) - 'At the end of 2006, Citigroup Inc. was the fourth-largest company in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, with a market value of $2...
Lehman CFO Says Market Recovery May Take Until 2009 - (www.ml-implode.com)
WaMu Estimates Cut by Goldman, Short Sale Recommended - (www.ml-implode.com)
Fitch Warns on Home Builders - (www.ml-implode.com)
California Mortgage Rates Still High - (www.ml-implode.com)

Housing Prices Closely Linked to Monetary Policy - (www.seekingalpha.com)
Bank will "need" to cut interest rates further - (www.telegraph.co.uk)
Failures of the Term Auction Facility - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com)
Fewer Options Open to Pay for Costs of College - (www.nytimes.com)
G-7 Signals Concern on Dollar's Slide, Weaker Growth - (www.bloomberg.com)
Our Financial Bailout Culture - (online.wsj.com)
Surprising Growth in the Trade Deficit - (www.nytimes.com)
Greenspan's media offensive glosses over shortcomings - (money.cnn.com)
The Bush Recession - (visitorfromtomorrow.com)
Victims and villains - (www.worldnetdaily.com)
GSEs: The Tail Wagging the Credit Market Dog? - (www.seekingalpha.com)
Economists: More Downside - (online.wsj.com)
Consumer confidence falls to new low - (www.ap.com)
U.S. import prices rise 2.8% in March - (www.marketwatch.com)
Watering ban means pollen-colored cars for dealers - (www.ajc.com)
Worst financial crisis since Depression, says IMF - (www.guardian.co.uk)
Foreclosure crisis hits rental market - (www.bankrate.com)
Cheapest Houses in the Bay Area - (www.ibabuzz.com)

Auction Market Shrinks by $51 Billion, With Failure Rate at 71% - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. credit crunch rocks student loan business - (www.ajc.com)
Revolvers trigger dangers for banks - (www.ft.com)
Prying Open Hedge Funds' Exit Door - (www.businessweek.com)
Gas, diesel hit new records - (www.chicagotribune.com)

GE Says Profit Fell, Citing Finance; Forecast Reduced - (www.bloomberg.com)
As Housing Boomed, Moody's Opened Up - (online.wsj.com)
How Lehman Opened the Fed's Spigot - (online.wsj.com)
GE's Results Pull Plug on Wall Street - (online.wsj.com)
Retailers report weakest March in 13 years - (www.latimes.com)
Linens 'n Things bankruptcy may come Tuesday: report - (www.reuters.com)
Exclusive Lines May Prove Risky In Cool Economy - (online.wsj.com)
Linens 'n Things Files for Bankruptcy - (www.thestreet.com)
Frontier Airlines Files for Bankruptcy Protection - (www.bloomberg.com)
Airline investors find they're always losing altitude - (www.chron.com)
Freightliner to lay off 1,500 in N.C. - (portland.bizjournals.com)

Philippines Caught in Rice Squeeze - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Dearer imports drive up UK prices - (www.ft.com)
Wage settlements suggest impact of inflation - (www.ft.com)
Saudis to phase out wheat production - (www.ft.com)
Nations in secret deals over grain supplies - (www.ft.com)
India Ends Export Incentives for Rice, Steel to Tame Inflation - (www.bloomberg.com)