Wednesday June 11 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Pending CA Legislation Addresses Foreclosure/Servicing Issues - (www.mortgageorb.com) The mortgage bills raise not only critical policy questions, but also political issues. The failure of a state senator to vote for a major bill on foreclosures, for example, was cited as one reason for submitting recall signatures for a ballot vote which could end the senator's career. Probably the most visible proposal - and the most likely to be enacted - is S.B.1137. The author, Sen. Don Perata of Oakland, is one of the most powerful legislators in California. His proposal first attempted to require lenders to conduct in-person meetings with borrowers at least 30 days prior to recording a notice of default to begin a foreclosure. When that proposal was defeated, real estate groups began an intense round of negotiations to determine if common ground could be reached on foreclosure issues.
NAFTA Superhighway and North American Union a Scary Reality - (www.economyincrisis.org) While most other major national newscasters have blindly accepted the government’s line that the “NAFTA Superhighway” is a “myth,” Lou Dobbs has refused to be fooled. In search of the truth, Mr. Dobbs sent investigative reporter Bill Tucker to Texas to see for himself. The evidence Mr. Tucker uncovered was powerful, compelling, and shocking. It confirms everything we here at the NAU War Room have been saying about the government’s hidden drive to absorb America into a “North American Union” (NAU) with Canada and Mexico, anchored by a massive “NAFTA Superhighway” designed to speed cheap Red Chinese and foreign goods from Mexico into the U.S. and Canada.
Banks Will Share Bond Insurers' Pain to the Tune of Another $10bln - (www.ml-implode.com) - Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and UBS, the banks most exposed to Ambac and MBIA, could face further write-downs of up to $10bn after the bond insurers last week lost their fight to retain their triple A credit ratings.
Schwab Signals Subprime Claims Will Sacrifice 50% Quarterly Net - (www.bloomberg.com) - Charles Schwab Corp., the largest U.S. online brokerage, may pay the equivalent of half a quarter's profit, or about $260 million, to win public-relations points by settling investors' claims over losses in a bond fund with subprime holdings
FHA Loses $4.6 Billion - Denies Insolvency - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com) - The Federal Housing Administration expects to lose $4.6 billion because of unexpectedly high default rates on home loans, officials said Monday. The projected loss is the highest in the home loan program since 2004, and officials said the F.H.A. had to withdraw $4.6 billion from its $21 billion capital reserve fund in May to cover the costs. They said the agency, which is self-sustaining, would not need appropriations from Congress to remain solvent. But Mr. Montgomery warned that the F.H.A. would have to renew its efforts to end the seller-financed down payment program, which accounted for 35 percent of its loans in 2007.
Hi, My Name Is Fred, And I'm Addicted to Credit Cards - (online.wsj.com) - Meetup.com, a Web site that organizes physical and virtual meetings, says it now serves 138 groups who gather in person to talk about debt management, up from 24 a year ago. Debtors Anonymous -- a cousin of Alcoholics Anonymous -- reports greater demand particularly in Southern California and Arizona, areas hit hard by the downturn. Activity is rising online: Postings are up 81% this year on the debt-related message boards of iVillage, a women-oriented site owned by General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal.
Derivatives Trading Is Scrutinized - (www.nytimes.com) - The Federal Reserve moved Monday to overhaul the financial apparatus behind derivatives trading, a regulatory step intended to assure that the failure of a major bank or investment firm would not create the systemic threat seen in March after the collapse of Bear Stearns.
Mortgage Bonds Resume Stumble; Some Debt Nears Lows - (www.bloomberg.com) - The Federal Reserve moved Monday to overhaul the financial apparatus behind derivatives trading, a regulatory step intended to assure that the failure of a major bank or investment firm would not create the systemic threat seen in March after the collapse of Bear Stearns.
Zillow Banned in Arizona - (www.mashable.com) – Leave it to the NAR and other real estate special interest groups to stifle competition. I am sure this site is still more accurate than the pathetic appraisals initiated by lenders, realtors and appraisers during the past 10 years.
Florida at the Precipice of Depression - (www.activerain.com)
Owners Demand Tax Reassessments As Values Plummet - (www.efinancedirectory.com)
Wealth Evaporates as Gas Prices Clobber McMansions - (www.bloomberg.com)


Other Stories:

The Next Real Estate Crisis - (www.businessweek.com)
Banks vs. Consumers Guess Who Wins - (www.businessweek.com)
Banks Say Mortgage Bond Investors Can't Have Money - (www.bloomberg.com)
Anatomy of a Bank Failure - (www.charleston.net)
Credit crisis hitting all kinds of consumer loans - (www.mcclatchydc.com)
Greenspan Conundrum In Reverse - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com)

Key, Wells, Chase ... Picking Up WaMu's Castaways in Seattle - (www.ml-implode.com) - Rising defaults and delinquencies on loans, houses staying on the market longer and fetching less-than-hoped-for prices when the...
Wachovia's Insiders' Buzz and more - (www.ml-implode.com) - Read the latest full scoop -- premium members only (cheap, $10/mo subscription required. Cancel at any time).
Intuition tells me people are going mad - (www.intuitiveblogger-intuition.blogspot.com)
4 great reasons to rent - (realestate.msn.com)
How to craft a lowball bid - (www.mcall.com)
Mortgage Bonds Slipping Back to their Worst Levels Ever - (www.ml-implode.com) - "In a nutshell, reality has returned, the Kool-aid has worn off and it is all crumbling once again with the most risky paper typ...
Golden West Not Wachovia's Main Problem, Sandler Says - (www.ml-implode.com)
Subprime criminal probes yet to catch big fish - (www.ml-implode.com)
The Solution to the Subprime Crisis - (www.ml-implode.com)
AIG chief under pressure as investor dissent grows - (www.ml-implode.com)
Decoys - (www.ml-implode.com)
FHA Repudiates Housing Rescue Bill - (www.ml-implode.com)
Downsizing the American House - (finance.yahoo.com)
Frank-Dodd Rescue Prolongs Housing Crisis - (www.bloomberg.com)

Bernanke Says Fed to Resist Price Expectations Surge - (www.bloomberg.com)
Why It’s Worse Than You Think - (www.newsday.com)
US sees a shadow of the Bundesbank - (www.ft.com)
U.S. hiring seen weaker in third quarter: Manpower - (www.reuters.com)
Housing crunch, 90210 - (money.cnn.com)
CFTC in talks to plug the 'London loophole' - (www.ft.com)
Corn Deluged by Iowa, Illinois Rain Cuts Yields, Boosts Prices - (www.bloomberg.com)
Fed Must Tackle Inflation This Year - (www.nytimes.com)
Interest Rates Will Rise Regardless of the Fed - (Charles Hugh Smith at www.oftwominds.com)
Mortgage fraud burgeoning with new twists - (www.sfgate.com)
REO Speedwagon - (www.sbhousingbubble.blogspot.com)
How much is it now? How about now? - (www.telegraph.co.uk)
Warren Buffett’s Hedge Fund Wager - (www.nytimes.com)
Buffett bets S&P 500 will beat hedge funds - (www.signonsandiego.com)
Gazprom predicts oil at $250 - (www.ft.com)
Farrell: Breaking Down Oil Demand - (www.thestreet.com)

Worries Mount as Farmers Push for Big Harvest - (www.nytimes.com)
F.H.A. Faces $4.6 Billion in Losses - (www.nytimes.com)
Gannett to take $2.5B to $3B write-down - (www.forbes.com)
Soaring costs are squeezing gas station owners too - (www.latimes.com)
More Telecom Deals Hardly a Sure Thing - (www.thestreet.com)
TI Can't Escape Cell-Phone Slump - (www.thestreet.com)
AT & T hit by lower price tag on iPhone - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Plastics producer 'hit from all sides' - (www.ft.com)
Out of the frying pan and into the power grid - (news.cnet.com)

ECB shrugs off Fed concern on dollar - (www.ft.com)
The Weak-Dollar Threat to World Order - (online.wsj.com)
Mexico inflation rises to 4.95% - (www.latimes.com)
UK industrial output defies economic gloom - (www.ft.com)
World Bank sees inflation threat to poor nations - (www.ft.com)