Thursday April 3 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Wachovia mortgage program stirs concerns - (www.ml-implode.com) - Wachovia has required its loan officers to sell a minimum number of Pick-A-Payment, traditional and other loans or face discipli...
House lawmakers propose $10000 home-buyer tax credit - MarketWatch - (www.marketwatch.com). More stupidity coming from our politicians to purely benefit the homebuilders and other interest groups.
Fannie Mae tightens rules for mortgages: report - (www.reuters.com)
Fannie Tightens Mortgage Terms, Sets Minimum Score - (www.ml-implode.com) - '- Fannie Mae, the largest U.S. mortgage-finance company, told lenders it will no longer buy most loans made to borrowers with c...
World Bank: Rising prices more pressing problem for East Asia than financial turmoil - (www.signonsandiego.com) – Another potential side effect of FED inflation and money printing.
Lehman Stops Writing Mortgages in the U.K., S&P Says - (www.ml-implode.com) - '- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the fourth-largest U.S. securities firm by market value, will stop writing mortgages at two U....
Fed Aided Bear Stearns as Firm Faced Chapter 11, Bernanke Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
Brace for $1 Trillion Writedown of Yertle the Turtle' Debt - (www.bloomberg.com)
WaMu Alt-A Pool Deteriorates Further - (Mish)
Foreclosure Freeze in MN hits obstacle: The Governor - (www.startribune.com)
From $701,000 to $459,000 to $229,000 in less than 2 years - (patrick.net)
House prices plunge in MA - (www.salemnews.com)
Luxury condos in Oakland sell at a discount - (www.sfgate.com)
Who owns you Americans? - (www.youtube.com)
Mortgage defaults force Denver exodus - (www.usatoday.com)
Living paycheck to paycheck - (www.cnn.com)


Other Stories:

Not the Financial End of the World as We Know It - (www.ml-implode.com) - 'I thought the release of the new REM album today might be a good excuse for a time out and a little perspective on what we’ve b...
WestLB Posts 1.6 Billion-Euro Loss on Writedowns - (www.ml-implode.com) - '- WestLB AG, the government-owned German bank reeling from subprime-related investments, had its first loss in three years on w...
Dumb Money - (www.time.com)
The Road To Serfdom - (www.michael-hudson.com)
Hillside Whore - (sbhousingbubble.blogspot.com)

Oil Rises, Gasoline Surges to Record on U.S. Fuel-Supply Drop - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. 2-Year Notes Fall on Jobs Gain, Bernanke Bailout Defense - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S Stocks Retreat on Recession Concern; GE, Caterpillar Fall - (www.bloomberg.com)
Dollar Falls Versus Euro as Bernanke Says Economy May Contract - (www.bloomberg.com)
The Moral Hazard of Creditors - (www.seekingalpha.com)
How Far Will House Prices Fall? - (www.seekingalpha.com)
Some houses worth less than their pipes - (www.reuters.com)

The underemployment rate is rising - (money.cnn.com)
Chaos on Wall Street, explained - (money.cnn.com)
What To Understand About the Bear Stearns Deal - (www.hussmanfunds.com)
We no longer live in a constitutional republic - (market-ticker.denninger.net)
UBS doubles sub-prime writedowns - (news.bbc.co.uk)
IMF Cuts Global Forecast on Worst Crisis Since 1930s - (www.bloomberg.com)
Higher Prices Sink Consumer Spending, US Outlook: Survey - (online.wsj.com)
Bernanke to Face Bear Stearns Queries - (www.bloomberg.com)
Manhattan Apartment Sales Fall Most in 18 Years as Buyers Wait - (www.bloomberg.com)
Mortgage applications volume down as refis drop - (www.marketwatch.com)
Hey, Fed: Stop robbing my savings and stop the inflation - (www.marketwatch.com)

Who wants auction rate securities? - (www.cfo.com)
Manhattan housing prices hit record high - (money.cnn.com)
Investors' love affair with government debt may get rocky - (www.reuters.com)
Danger in Banks' Balance Sheets - (online.wsj.com)
Lenders Ease The Throttle On Car Loans - (online.wsj.com)
Skunk at the Bank Party - (online.wsj.com)
Pace of U.S. air fare hikes may be slowing - (www.signonsandiego.com)

Inflation Asia's biggest risk, says ADB - (www.ft.com)
$6-a-month raise ends Nike strike in Vietnam - (www.chron.com)
New mortgage gloom as lenders close the door - (business.timesonline.co.uk)
Britons scramble for funds as credit crunch bites - (www.iht.com)
Iceland threatens direct markets intervention - (www.ft.com)
HBOS expects house sale fall of up to 30% - (www.ft.com)

False ideology at the heart of the financial crisis - (www.ft.com)
The KISS Rule for Markets - (online.wsj.com)
Leveraged Planet - (www.nytimes.com)
Workers on cell phones cost their companies big bucks in wrecks - (www.ajc.com)