Thursday April 17 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

JPMorgan Quietly Raising $6 Billion - (www.ml-implode.com) - The hush-hush plans to raise capital at the Wall Street bank would seem to contrast sharply against remarks made by JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon earlier Wednesday, who had said that the credit mess was “working itself out.” No mention was made on the earnings call about raising $6 billion, and a source that spoke with HW reacted to the news with stunned silence upon hearing of the plan.
Foreclosures' grim rise reverses fortunes in city - (www.palmbeachpost.com)
States Tackle Foreclosures In Absence of Federal Help - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Foreclosure Act Does Squat for Houseowners - (www.thestreet.com) – It shouldn’t do squat for homeowners or lenders or banks. Let’s face it, most deserve the situation they are in.
US mortgage clock ticking, Dodd warns - (www.ft.com)
Der Spiegel: The Madness of Ben Bernanke - (www.spiegel.de)
Washington Mutual swings to 1Q loss on $3.5B provision - (www.forbes.com)
Merrill Upped Ante as Bonds Fizzled - (online.wsj.com)
JPMorgan Net Drops 50% on $5.1 Billion of Writedowns, Reserves - (www.bloomberg.com)
Dollar Falls to Record Against Euro as EU Inflation Quickens - (www.bloomberg.com)
Businesses Get Big Tax Breaks in Housing Bill - (www.nytimes.com)
Banking Supervisors Move to Gird International System - (www.iht.com)
March's housing stats grim; no sign of foreclosure peak - (www.modbee.com)
Houseowners get that drowning feeling - (www.sfgate.com)
SoCal house prices fall to 2004 levels - (latimesblogs.latimes.com)
Housing crisis yields 18.9-month supply of houses for sale - (www.freep.com)
Merrill's Reckless Mortgage Bond Binge - (www.ml-implode.com)


Other Stories:

S&P may cut $57 bln subprime debt, reviewing loss - (www.ml-implode.com) - Standard & Poor's on Tuesday said it may cut $57.1 billion of subprime-related debt due to continuing delinquencies and a wor...
Government plans to help UK banks - (www.ml-implode.com) - The Bank of England is poised to launch a new lending programme for UK banks in an effort to break the logjam in the credit mar...
CtW Invest Asks WaMu Board To Demand Resignations Of 2 Directors - (www.ml-implode.com)
Economists Debate Link Between War, Credit Crisis - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Coming Soon to a Bank Near You: The $57 Overdraft Fee? - (blog.lendingclub.com)
The Price of Oil Hasn't Budged Since 2001 -- Priced in Gold - (www.dailygreen.com)
Bush the Most Unpopular Post War President Ever - (abcnews.go.com)
Fears of Long Recession Rising - (money.cnn.com)
80% of Arab World Has Negative View of US - (news.bbc.co.uk)
Obama Would Ask His AG to "Immediately Review" Potential Bush War Crimes - (www.philly.com)
Dollar Falls to Record Low vs. Euro - (www.bloomberg.com)
Price of Oil, Gas Hit New Highs - (ww.nytimes.com)
The Next Mortgage Crisis - (www.slate.com)
Why the next mortgage crisis may be worse - (www.slate.com)
House Sales, Prices Down In January - (www.allheadlinenews.com)
New buyers need a price crash - (www.introducertoday.co.uk)
Borrowers Sober Up - (www.seekingalpha.com)
Ron Paul Sees Bailout Writing on the Wall - (www.usnews.com)
Angry Renter: Oppose the Mortgage Lender Housing Bailout - (www.angryrenter.com)

Gold, Silver Climb as Dollar Falls to All-Time Low Against Euro - (www.bloomberg.com)
Oil, Gasoline Rise to Records After Unexpected U.S. Supply Drop - (www.bloomberg.com)
Foreclosures Jump 57% as Homedebtors WALK AWAY - (www.bloomberg.com)
California Foreclosures Increase 20 Percent in March - (www.kpbs.org)
Foreclosures continue to soar, worst is not over - (www.msnbc.msn.com)
Foreclosure glut further depresses housing prices - (www.latimes.com)
As Greenspan's reputation sinks, Volcker's rises - (msnbc.msn.com)
Wholesale prices soared in March: Thank The Fed - (news.yahoo.com)
'Mr. No Bailout' getting noticed - (www.kentucky.com)

U.S. Housing Starts Slide to Lowest Level in 17 Years - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. Consumer Prices Rose 0.3% in March, Led by Food - (www.bloomberg.com)
Fed Beige Book Says Economy `Weakened' Since February - (www.bloomberg.com)
Inflation Everywhere - (www.forbes.com)
Bankruptcy filings rise 38% in 2007 - (www.latimes.com)
An Inflation Indicator Leaves the Fed in a Tough Spot - (www.nytimes.com)
Houston's upscale home sales fall victim to slump - (www.chron.com)
Record number of Atlanta properties up for auction - (www.ajc.com)
Rate of home foreclosures expected to get worse - (www.usatoday.com)
Bankers Cast Doubt on Key Rate - (online.wsj.com)
OECD predicts subprime losses to hit $420bn - (www.ft.com)
Subprime past its heyday - (www.financialweek.com)
Foreclosure glut further depresses housing prices - (www.latimes.com)
Hedge Funds Need More Oversight, Transparency, Treasury Panels Say - (www.washingtonpost.com)

Merrill Lynch to write down further $6-8 bln: report - (www.reuters.com)
Fannie, Freddie regulator sees more risk ahead - (www.reuters.com)
GM plant partially halts production due to strike - (money.cnn.com)
2 more carriers consider merging - (www.latimes.com)
Europe car sales hit by financial crisis - (www.ft.com)
North Korea Faces Food Crisis, UN Agency Warns - (www.bloomberg.com)