Monday May 12 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Empty Homes Spur Cities' Suits - (www.ml-implode.com) - Cleveland; Baltimore; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Minneapolis, Minn., have all filed lawsuits against lenders or developers based on the devastating effects foreclosures have wreaked on their communities. The lawsuits were filed in recent months under different theories, in state and federal court.
Socialization of the G7 Banking System - (www.ml-implode.com) – Never let the idiots that got you into the problem in the first place put together a plan to get you out. If you think the prices of wheat and rice were overdone you haven’t seen anything yet. Whenever public servants dream up some scheme to protect you the result is predictable: the problem is never solved and the cost is always multiples of what was projected. Vast new industries which are not economically justified become PERMANENT beneficiaries of government and taxpayer subsidies. There are permanent distortions of supply and demand, and that is where we are at in the US and EU.
House Passes $15B Bill To Prevent Affordable Prices - (www.cbsnews.com) – A little bill to bailout our neighbors that bought more house than they could afford, many of who lied about their income, in the hopes of flipping for profit. Also some nuggets to give buyers a one-time credit to help bailout homebuilders.
Bush says he'll veto foreclosure BAILOUT legislation - (www.latimes.com)
A Little Pity, Please, for Lenders - (www.nytimes.com)
AIG Private Equity, Hedge Fund Returns Plunge 84% - (www.bloomberg.com)
Losing a Home, Then Losing All Out of Storage - (www.nytimes.com)
Citigroup Announces Plan To Shed $400 Billion in Assets - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Seeking Foreclosure Riches: What Does it All Mean? - (www.ml-implode.com) - "One of the ingredients for "bubbles" is the quest for the home run. Investors look to how much they wish to gain rather than to...
No account, no mortgage, says Halifax - (www.ml-implode.com)
New Fannie Ponzi programs - (www.ml-implode.com)


Other Stories:

HSBC to Make $4.6 Billion Provision - (www.ml-implode.com) - "- HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest bank, tomorrow will announce a provision of $4.6 billion linked to losses against mortgag...
Fannie’s New Plan Helps Keep Borrowers Underwater - (www.ml-implode.com)
Morgan Asset's Kelsoe Set to Lose Seven Funds After Vote - (www.ml-implode.com)

What you should know about the Fed - (www.rfdoc.com)
Global inflation cannot be ignored - (www.reportonbusiness.com)
Gas Prices Send Surge of Riders to Mass Transit - (www.nytimes.com)
Housing Bailout Bill Seems to Be on Shaky Ground - (www.nytimes.com)

Housing Bust and Self Storage Units - (www.ml-implode.com) - "David Streitfeld writes in the NY Times about the impact of the housing bust on self storage: Losing a Home, Then Losing All Ou...
Housing Bailout Plan In Jeopardy - (www.ml-implode.com) - "Even as the housing foreclosure crisis deepens, legislation to rescue homeowners and their lenders appears to be in significant...
Stocks headed for troubled waters from oil, consumption woes - (www.marketwatch.com)
Market for offloading bad debt balloons as banks free up capital - (www.iht.com)
Mortgage credit losses could total $500 bln: Goldman - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Gas jumps above $3.67, oil passes $126 on Venezuela concerns - (www.ap.com)
Growing Deficits Threaten Pensions - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Chilean Drought, Power Shortages Drive Up World Metal Prices - (www.washingtonpost.com)

Fear of civil war as Lebanon clashes escalate - (www.ft.com)
Surging food prices bite across Asia - (www.forbes.com)
Eurozone loan demand plunges - (www.ft.com)
As Gazprom Goes, So Goes Russia - (www.nytimes.com)
A look at responses to food crisis - (www.ap.com)
Chastened banks tighten up on lending: ECB - (news.yahoo.com)
How Many ARM's Set To Reset in 2008? - (www.urbandigs.com)
Colossal Castle or Humble House? Your Choice - (www.divinecaroline.com)
The Homeless Survival Guide - (www.abovetopsecret.com)
Big Rescues Can Work. Just Ask New York. - (www.nytimes.com)
When Should the Fed Crash the Party? - (www.nytimes.com)

Dow vs House Prices - (homepage.mac.com)
10 markets set for steep losses - (money.cnn.com)
Crash Impacts Long Island - (patrick.net)
Prices fall in Australia - (bunbury.yourguide.com.au)
American housing: Map of happiness for patient buyers - (www.economist.com)
Fannie Mae - Or May Not - (www.seekingalpha.com)