Tuesday April 21 Housing and Economic stories

KeNosHousingPortal.blogspot.com

TOP STORIES:

‘Surgical’ Bankruptcy Possible for G.M. - (www.nytimes.com) The Treasury Department is directing General Motors to lay the groundwork for a bankruptcy filing by a June 1 deadline, despite G.M.’s public contention that it could still reorganize outside court, people with knowledge of the plans said during the weekend. Members of President Obama’s automotive task force spent last week in meetings and on conference calls with G.M. officials and its advisers in Detroit and Washington. Those talks are expected to continue this week. The goal is to prepare for a fast “surgical” bankruptcy, the people who had been briefed on the plans said. G.M., which has been granted $13.4 billion in federal aid, insists that a quick restructuring is necessary so its image and sales are not damaged permanently. The preparations are aimed at assuring a G.M. bankruptcy filing is ready should the company be unable to reach agreement with bondholders to exchange roughly $28 billion in debt into equity in G.M. and with the United Automobile Workers union, which has balked at granting concessions without sacrifices from bondholders. President Obama, who was elected with strong backing from labor, remained concerned about potential risk to G.M.’s pension plan and wants to avoid harming workers, these people said.

U.S. government to waste $285 million on 17,600 American-made autos - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com) In yet another foolish attempt to stimulate the economy, President Obama says the Government Will Buy 17,600 American-Made Autos. President Barack Obama said the U.S. government will buy 17,600 new, fuel-efficient vehicles from ailing American automakers by June 1. The president made the announcement Thursday in a statement issued by the White House, saying the General Services Administration will spend $285 million of Recovery Act Funds to purchase the vehicles for the government fleet. All purchases will be made from manufacturers with an existing contract with the GSA, which are General Motors Corp. (GM), Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Co. (F). This includes the purchase of 2,500 hybrid sedans that will be ordered by April 15. “This is the largest one-time purchase of hybrid vehicles for the federal government fleet in history,” according to the statement. The decision was made to buy the vehicles on the short timetable to help give a boost to the economy, as well as demonstrating the Obama administration’s support of the U.S. auto industry. “This is only a first step, but I will continue to ensure that we are working to support the American auto industry during this difficult period of restructuring." The scariest part of the announcement is "This is only a first step."

States Slashing Social Programs for Vulnerable - (www.nytimes.com) Battered by the recession and the deepest and most widespread budget deficits in several decades, a large majority of states are slicing into their social safety nets — often crippling preventive efforts that officials say would save money over time. Skip to next paragraphstimulus package is helping to alleviate some of the pain, providing large amounts of money to pay for education and unemployment insurance, bolster food stamp programs and expand tax credits for low earners. But the money will offset only 40 percent of the losses in state revenues, and programs for vulnerable groups have been cut in at least 34 states, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a private research group in Washington. Perhaps nowhere have the cuts been more disruptive than in Arizona, where more than 1,000 frail elderly people are struggling without home-care aides to help with bathing, housekeeping and trips to the doctor. Officials acknowledge that some are apt to become sicker or fall, ending up in nursing homes at a far higher cost. Ohio and other states face large cutbacks in child welfare investigations, which may mean more injured children and more taken into foster care. Despite tax increases, California has ended dental coverage for adults on Medicaid, all but guaranteeing future medical problems. “There’s no question that we’re getting short-term savings that will result in greater long-term human and financial costs,” said Linda J. Blessing, interim chief of the Arizona Department of Economic Security, expressing the concerns of officials and community agencies around the country. “There are no good options, just less bad options.”

Construction of downtown Portland high-rise is halted by tight credit - (www.oregonlive.com) Tom Moyer, one of Portland's most successful real estate developers, will halt work Monday on his 32-floor tower now under construction in downtown Portland. Moyer's decision to pull 350 workers off the Park Avenue West is a stunning sign that no city, no person and no block is spared from this recession. Moyer is one of Oregon's wealthiest developers, and the Park Avenue West is anchored on prime downtown land, in a city that one company ranks as having the country's second most stable office market. The building, originally scheduled to open in 2011, already was more than half leased by a law firm and a Nike store. In other words, if anyone in this town could get a loan, it would be this guy on this project. "Construction financing does not exist right now," said Vanessa Sturgeon, president of TMT Development, Moyer's company, which is building Park Avenue West. Moyer's financial woes show that even though the U.S. Treasury pumps billions of dollars into banks, that cash is not landing in the hands of the people who need it. Moyer, who has been in real estate since the 1950s, may be able to withstand the pain. But at the end of the line, lenders' reluctance means construction workers may not receive a paycheck, finding it harder to make the mortgage and buy new shoes for their kids. Even though the banks are under pressure to improve their own health, borrowers remain frustrated by their unwillingness to lend. "I get a little bit mad about it," said Bart Eberwein, vice president at Hoffman Construction Co., general contractor on the project. "The banks are getting the money, but they're not lending it out. Until private lending picks up, we are going to be in a prolonged slump." The Park Avenue West was designed to be a new icon in the city skyline, rising 350 feet on a sliver of land along the historic South Park Blocks alignment. It falls just a few blocks from Moyer's previous downtown tower, the Fox Tower and the 1000 Broadway building. Moyer finished the Fox Tower in the teeth of the dot-com bust, but it still became one of Portland's most notable buildings, attracting high-end retailers.

Honk If You Need Land - (www.costar.com) appears that vacant auto dealerships may soon join obsolete enclosed malls and the growing inventory of empty big-box stores on the list of former robust retail properties in need of an alternative use. Already at overcapacity, automakers have been trying to reduce the number of dealerships for years with mixed success. The recession will likely do what the automakers could not -- bring the number of dealerships in line with demand. President Obama's call for more extreme turnaround measures for both General Motors and Chrysler is only expected to add to the number of un-needed dealerships. Auto Dealership Closures: According to the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), approximately 900 dealerships closed and 200 dealerships opened in 2008, for a net loss of 700 dealerships, leaving the country with approximately 20,000 franchised auto dealers. According to Detroit-based research and advisory firm, Urban Science, 2008's decline in auto dealership count is the largest the firm has recorded since it started collecting data in 1991. For 2009, the NADA forecasts a net loss of 900 additional dealerships. According to CoStar Property Professional, 5.4% of auto dealership properties across the country are vacant and another 3.7% are available for lease, bringing total availability to 9.1%, or 1,023 "spaces" for lease; this compares to 3.5% vacancy about one year ago. Additionally, CoStar COMPS data shows that there are currently 1,861 auto dealership properties actively listed for sale across the country.
North Carolina, Colorado Banks Shut as 2009 Failures Reach 23 - (www.bloomberg.com) Banks in Colorado and North Carolina were shut as rising unemployment and a loss of jobs shrinks household wealth in the deepest recession in a quarter century, pushing the toll of U.S. bank failures to 23 this year. New Frontier Bank in Greeley, Colorado, with $2 billion in assets and $1.5 billion in deposits, and Cape Fear Bank in Wilmington, North Carolina, with $492 million in assets and $403 million in deposits, were shut today by state regulators. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., named receiver, gave New Frontier depositors 30 days to transfer accounts, and arranged to have Cape Fear’s assets to be assumed by First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Charleston in South Carolina. “All insured depositors of New Frontier are encouraged to transfer their insured funds to other banks,” the FDIC said in a statement. In North Carolina, the agency said: “Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relations to retain their deposit insurance coverage.” The U.S. has lost about 5.1 million jobs since the recession began in late 2007 and unemployment jumped to 8.5 percent in March, the highest since 1983, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Home prices in 20 cities fell 19 percent in January from a year earlier, the fastest drop on record, a private survey showed. The Obama administration has taken steps to help the economy, including a $787 billion stimulus package aimed at creating or saving 3.5 million jobs.

The Vanishing Shopping Mall - (www.theweek.com) Enclosed shopping centers, long the cathedrals of American consumerism, are closing their doors by the hundreds as the recession continues to clobber retail sales. Is America’s love affair with the mall over? Are malls dying? The vital signs are not good. Even before the recession hit, consumers had developed mall fatigue, and the classic enclosed shopping mall was in decline. More than 400 of the 2,000 largest malls in the U.S. have closed in the past two years. The last new major mall in the U.S. opened in 2006, and only one big mall is scheduled to open this year—the troubled Xanadu mega-mall in Rutherford, N.J. (See below.) With some 150,000 retail stores projected to fail in the U.S. this year, more mall closings are imminent. Mall mainstays such as Mervyn’s department stores, Linens ’n Things, and KB Toys have already disappeared into bankruptcy, and mall vacancy rates topped 7 percent last year, the highest level since 2001. “It’s an absolute disaster,” says Howard Davidowitz, an investment banker specializing in retailers. “What a mall represents is discretionary spending, and discretionary spending is in a depression.” Is it really that bleak? The data suggests that it is. For decades, American consumers could always be counted on to spend more than they did the year before—the only question was, by how much. But in the past 12 months, retail sales in the U.S. have dropped an unprecedented 9.8 percent. The economic collapse has landed especially heavily on the old-line department stores, such as Sears and JCPenney, that anchor many malls. As their sales and profits have tanked, they’ve been pulling out of malls, to the distress of the smaller merchants that depend on the larger stores to feed them traffic. The Turfland Mall in Lexington, Ky., recently lost Dillard’s as an anchor tenant, setting off a cascade of closings. “We have no choice but to leave now that Dillard’s is leaving,” says Bill Parker, who just closed his shoe store.

Bartering Services to Combat the Recession - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com) A new trend of bartering services or simply offering good deeds without pay to others less fortunate is catching on. Please consider Trading Good Deeds At Estonia's Bank of Happiness. To become a client [of the Bank of Happiness], an Estonian must register online, listing the useful things that he can do for others (eg, grocery shopping, walking a dog, fixing cars) and those that he would like done unto him (eg, having a suit darned or windows cleaned). “We call it a bank because we want to bring forth a new set of values”, says Tiina Urm, a 26-year-old who helped to think up the idea and is the closest thing that the Bank of Happiness has to a manager. “We just want to create a network where people don’t pay for what they need but get it from each other. It’s a way of allowing people, especially those who have lost their jobs, to keep doing what they do — and to bring people together.” The Bank of Happiness is not necessarily peddling reciprocation — a teenager might fetch a weekly shop for an elderly neighbour, even if the neighbour would be unable to do much in return. Instead, a stranger who has seen the good deed listed by the neighbour online will step in to help the teenager.

Nationwide Tax Revolt Is Coming - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com) Cities, states, and municipalities have a huge budget problem. That problem is caused by too much spending. The sensible thing to do would be to reduce expenditures. Instead Cities Turn to Fees to Fill Budget Gaps. After her sport utility vehicle sideswiped a van in early February, Shirley Kimel was amazed at how quickly a handful of police officers and firefighters in Winter Haven, Fla., showed up. But a real shock came a week later, when a letter arrived from the city billing her $316 for the cost of responding to the accident. “I remember thinking, ‘What the heck is this?’ ” says Ms. Kimel, 67, an office manager at a furniture store. “I always thought this sort of thing was covered by my taxes.” It used to be. But last July, Winter Haven became one of a few dozen cities in the country to start charging “accident response fees.” The idea is to shift the expense of tending to and cleaning up crashes directly to at-fault drivers. Either they, or their insurers, are expected to pay.


OTHER STORIES:

AIG in spotlight over derivatives - (www.ft.com) Financial products body ignores overhaul
Greenberg joins critics of AIG's banks pay-out - (www.ft.com)
AIG aircraft unit seeks $5bn Fed credit line - (www.ft.com)
Thailand balanced on edge of chaos - (www.ft.com)
Asean summit cancelled amid protests - (www.ft.com)
Tarp investigator seeks evidence of book fiddling - (www.ft.com) Inspector hopes banks did not ‘cook books’ to get funds

Crude Oil Falls on Demand Concerns After IEA Lowers Forecast - (www.bloomberg.com)
Asian Stocks Advance on Japan Stimulus, China Money Supply - (www.bloomberg.com)
Crisis Altering Wall Street as Big Banks Lose Top Talent - (www.nytimes.com)
Showdown Seen Between Banks and Regulators - (www.nytimes.com)
US market rally could trip over the bottom line - (finance.yahoo.com)
China Slows Purchases of U.S. and Other Bonds - (www.nytimes.com)
China Loans, Money Supply Jump to Records on Stimulus - (www.bloomberg.com)
Thailand balanced on edge of chaos - (www.ft.com)

China Central Bank Pledges Sufficient Liquidity - (www.bloomberg.com)
Asia Summit Cancelled By Thai Protestors - (www.cnbc.com)
Massive Stimulus Packages Add to Japan's Pile of Debt - (www.washingtonpost.com)
China, Kazakhstan May Sign $10 Billion Accord for Oil - (www.bloomberg.com)
Japan Producer Prices Fall at Fastest Pace Since 2002 - (www.bloomberg.com)
Steinbrueck Drafts German ‘Bad Bank’ Financial Rescue Plan - (www.bloomberg.com)
China foreign exchange reserves at $1.954 trillion - (www.cnbc.com)
Restore Order and Win a Financial War - (www.nytimes.com)
With Shoppers Pinching Pennies, Some Big Retailers Get the Message - (www.nytimes.com)
U.S. retail sales to fall 2.4 pct in Q2: ShopperTrak - (www.cnbc.com)
Recession Pain, Even in Palm Beach - (www.nytimes.com)

Chrysler Creditors Disagree on U.S. Plan to Cut Carmaker's Debt - (www.washingtonpost.com)
So Botox Isn’t Just Skin Deep - (www.nytimes.com)
Boeing Long-Term Credit Ratings May be Cut by Standard & Poor’s - (www.bloomberg.com)
He Doesn’t Let Money Managers Off the Hook - (www.nytimes.com)
How to avoid a short squeeze - (www.marketwatch.com)
Today’s Financial Distress Gets a Dictionary, Almost - (www.nytimes.com)
With Finance Disgraced, Which Career Will Be King? - (www.nytimes.com)

Monday May 26 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

A Congressional Speculator? - (calculatedrisk.blogspot.com) - This is an update to post below on Rep. Linda Richardson's foreclosure woes. Gene Maddaus of the Daily Breeze kindly forwarded today's additions to the saga. There are not two, but three homes owned by Richardson in foreclosure. And yes, she appears to have cashed out her primary residence back in 2006 to fund her campaign for State Assembly. So it looks like a pattern."
City of Vallejo, California files for bankruptcy - (www.reuters.com) - The city of Vallejo, California, filed for bankruptcy on Friday, a move signaled by its city council earlier this month as it struggles to avoid running out of money amid steep city personnel costs and sliding revenues from a housing slump. Vallejo, with more than 100,000 residents, is the first sizable city in California to file for bankruptcy.
Report says Moody's, others shifted analysts at banks' request - (www.financialweek.com) – Yes, the same companies that rated mortgage securities as AAA and rated Enron highly before they went into bankruptcy are showing their conflicts of interest.
Limits Weighed for Commodities Investors - (www.nytimes.com) Patients are now running the asylum. Instead of addressing root case, moron Joseph Lieberman, chairman of a Senate oversight committee, said Tuesday that he was considering legislation limiting large institutional investors in commodities markets. The legislation would be aimed at speculators and other investors who use commodities like oil as a way to hedge against swings in other investment instruments, like stocks and the American dollar.
Toughest Summer Job Is Finding One - (www.nytimes.com) - As the forces of economic downturn ripple widely across the United States, the job market of 2008 is shaping up as the weakest in more than half a century for teenagers looking for summer work, according to labor economists, government data and companies that hire young people.
Home price index posts largest drop in history - (www.ap.com) - A home-price index considered to be the most comprehensive reading of the U.S. market posted the sharpest decline (3.1% in 1Q2008) in its 17-year history, & analysts say housing has yet to bottom out.
Mesa Air may file for bankruptcy - (www.arizonarepublic.com)
Fingerprint Registry in Housing Bill!!! – (www.openmarket.org) – You wonder why Congress’ approval ratings are lower than Bush, because they are standing around giving away all our rights. Earlier this week, a measure creating a federal fingerprint registry totally unrelated to national security passed a U.S. Senate committee almost without notice. The legislation would require thousands of individuals working even tangentially in the mortgage and real estate industries — and not suspected of anything — to send their prints to the feds. The database and fingerprint mandates were tucked into housing and foreclosure assistance bills that on Tuesday passed the Senate Banking Committee by a vote of 19-2
New Vanguard CEO declares Media Blackout - (www.ml-implode.com) - New CEO Joe Nocito Jr. warns his "employees" of "DISCIPLINARY ACTION" if they talk to the media. "There is to be NO communication with ANY members of the media."
Woman loses job, burns down house for money - (blogs.tampabay.com)
Citigroup's CDO Shows Enron Accounting - (www.bloomberg.com)
Florida Pension Fund Is Suing AIG - (www.nytimes.com)
Moody's Plunges for Second Day After Cover-Up Probe - (www.bloomberg.com)



Other Stories:

Housing's False Bottom - (Charles Hugh Smith at www.oftwominds.com)
Loan failures rise for 37th straight month, extending record - (www.signonsandiego.com)
FDIC's Bair: Foreclosure Aid Is 'Train Wreck' - (blogs.wsj.com)
How Is the Klan Like a Group of Real-Estate Agents? - (www.freakonomicsbook.com)

Canadian Housing Market Also Subject To Housing “Physics” And Is Going Down - (www.ml-implode.com) - "Alas, what goes up, must come down- even in Canada. After months of the MSM reporting that the Canadian housing market would n...
Bribery, Kickbacks, Indictments, Ratergate - (www.ml-implode.com) - "Fraud, greed, and market tops go hand in hand like clockwork. We saw that in housing, we are seeing it other places as well suc...
David Einhorn’s ‘Must-Read’ Speech Exposing Lehman’s Lies - (www.ml-implode.com) - ``After an in-depth and informative intro, [Einhorn] dives right into Lehman with research that is quite damning.'' Here is a n...
Historical Housing Graphs: Months of Supply, Sales and Inventory - (www.ml-implode.com)
Fraud Probe At Moody's - (www.ml-implode.com)
Merrill Suspends Trader, Finds Overvalued Derivatives - (www.ml-implode.com)
Ranieri Pursuing $1 Billion Distressed Mortgage Fund - (www.ml-implode.com)
As I see it, 32 commercial banks and thrifts may see the feces hit the fan blades - (www.ml-implode.com)
Comptroller Dugan on "Unprecedented Home Equity Loan Losses" - (www.ml-implode.com)
Existing Home Sales Match All-Time Low in April; Inventory Swells - (www.ml-implode.com)
Builders STILL Tout No-Money Down, Adjustable Mortgages - (money.cnn.com)
Fannie Still Runs Amok: Didn't We Learn Anything? - (www.seekingalpha.com)
Freddie Mac Suffers Bout of "Temporary" Insanity - (www.bloomberg.com)
US House Prices Tumble 3.1% in First Quarter - (www.bloomberg.com)
Gov't house price index posts largest drop in 17-year history - (www.breitbart.com)
Trouble ahead for global house prices - (www.economist.com)
More Questions Are Raised About Moody's Ratings - (www.nytimes.com)
Pimco's Gross Says U.S. Underestimating Inflation - (www.bloomberg.com)

An inquiry into interbank loan rate - (www.iht.com)
Bad Oil Bets Haunt Speculators - (online.wsj.com)
Prices of Credit Derivatives Take a Drift - (online.wsj.com)
Foreclosure forecast grim - (www.signonsandiego.com)
If $4 Gas Is Bad, Just Wait - (online.wsj.com)

Retailers face uncertain second half of 2008 - (www.signonsandiego.com)
Builders Tout Incentives In Bid to Sell Homes - (online.wsj.com)
Moody's Cuts AIG's Senior Unsecured Credit Rating After Loss - (www.bloomberg.com)
Hybrid sales are zooming - (www.latimes.com)
McDonald's dollar menu to stay, executives say - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Housing slump, fuel prices squeeze moving firms - (www.latimes.com)

New Find Fuels Speculation Brazil Will Be a Power in Oil - (online.wsj.com)
U.K. Economy Grows the Least Since 2005 on Investment - (www.bloomberg.com)
European Services, Manufacturing Growth Slowed in May - (www.bloomberg.com)
Mexico prospering despite U.S. slowdown - (www.latimes.com)
Gauging the Big Bets of a Hot Hand - (www.nytimes.com)
FBI: Mortgage fraud cases on upswing - (www.chicagotribune.com)

Thursday May 22 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Congresswoman Walks Away - (www.ml-implode.com) - "The story of the foreclosure of Long Beach Democrat Laura Richardson's Sacramento home is a tale of a real estate market gone s...
Mortgage Applications & Fundings Are Surging. But… - (www.ml-implode.com) - In a nutshell, all increased mortgage volume is great. But, when exotic interest only programs and high loan-to-value FHA programs make up the lion’s share of the volume, you have to be skeptical about the numbers and the quality of the business.
Mortgage Application Volume Sinks as Rates Rise - (www.ml-implode.com) - mortgage application volume fell 7.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending May 16, according to the latest weekly survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association
Shortage fears push oil futures near $140 - (www.ft.com). Current price near $135/barrel but futures are pushing $140.
Oil Powers to Record, Above $135 as Supplies Fall - (www.cnbc.com)
Countrywide CEO Mozilo's E-mail Bumble Sparks Furor – (www.cnbc.com) – Yes, the tan-man we all love to hate ruining shareholder value and pissing off more customers. Let’s give him another $100M bonus.
Sen. Dodd: Housing Bill Not a Bailout - (www.cnbc.com). Yes, I am saving all Senator Dodd stories saying this is not a bailout so that when it comes out that taxpayers are covering this, we can go back to him and politely correct him.
Commodity collapse coming - (www.news.com.au) - The commodity boom may be turning into a bubble that could burst around the end of the year, according to a special report from Lehman Brothers in New York.
Soros warns global boom is over - (news.bbc.co.uk) - He warned the "financial bubble" of the last 25 years could be drawing to an end and the post World War II "super-boom" era could also be over.
He predicted a "more severe and longer" US slowdown than most people expect. And he said that the UK was worse-placed than America to weather the coming economic storm, because it had such a large financial sector and has had the biggest increase in house prices.
Fannie CEO sees steep house-price drop - (ap.google.com)
Soaring Foreclosure Numbers Mean More Prey for Vulture Funds - (www.sdbj.com)
American cuts flights as oil rises - (www.ft.com). American Airlines said it would eliminate flights, cut thousands of jobs and charge most passengers $15 to check a single piece of luggage, as surging oil prices exacerbated the crisis in the US airline industry
Former AIG chief could face SEC charges - (www.ft.com). Greenberg served with Wells notice. Hopefully the crooked ex-AIG CEO and smarmy rat will stop bothering the existing board (as he is the root cause of many of the problems). Hopefully, they will collect back the money he shuffled to his wife. And hopefully he will get what he deserves - jail time. Last week, a federal judge presiding over a criminal trial that led to convictions of former AIG and Gen Re executives said there was “sufficient evidence” to show that a conspiracy began with a phone call from Mr. Greenberg. Mr. Greenberg had not been previously charged by federal prosecutors or the SEC over the transactions that allegedly inflated AIG’s reserves by $500m and he has always denied any wrongdoing.
Has the Fed really flooded the world with dollars? - (blogs.telegraph.co.uk) - It reinforces my fear that we are heading into a deflationary crunch. No doubt the Fed, ECB, the Bank of England, et al, will ultimately flood the system with money and set off another asset bubble. We are not there yet. The professor warned that yields on 10-year Treasuries (now 3.79pc) have shot up so much on inflation fears since the Fed bail-out in March that the effect risks short-circuiting the whole monetary rescue. “They may find that they don’t benefit after all from cutting rates,” he said. Well, yes, this is the great fear. The Fed may now be trapped. The argument is that the US 10-year rate - set by market forces, and increasingly by the actions of Chinese and Mid-East governments - is the key price setter for the US housing market and corporate debt.
Analyst Meredith Whitney on U.S. banks - (www.businessweek.com) - Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney believes the credit crisis will extend well into 2009, perhaps beyond. She sees three years of multi-billion dollar revenue reversals.
Moody’s launches review in wake of errors - (www.ft.com) - Charles Schumer urges SEC probe


Other Stories:

Crackdown on Foreclosed Kids? - (www.ml-implode.com)
US economy in ‘uncharted waters’ - (ww.ft.com)
US corporate property prices take hit - (www.ft.com)
Citigroup to close down branches in UK - (www.ml-implode.com) - Citigroup announced plans to extricate itself completely from new sub-prime lending in Britain, with the loss of up to 700 jobs,...
Home loan failures rise for 37th straight month, extending record - (www.ml-implode.com) - "Home loan failures in San Diego County continued to set new records in April, the 37th consecutive month of year-over-year incr...
A trying time to lead a bank - (www.mlive.com)
Hedge Funds in Swaps Face Peril With Rising Junk Bond Defaults - (www.bloomberg.com)
Mr Mortgage - ‘Short-Refinances’ Gaining Popularity.. - (www.ml-implode.com)
World Savings Option ARM Training Video - (www.ml-implode.com)
Delta Financial Execs Plan New Mortgage Venture - (www.ml-implode.com)
Impac Mortgage reports loss of $2B for 2007 - (www.ml-implode.com)

Government's 'numbers racket' is about to blow up in our faces - (www.marketwatch.com)
Ownership costs outpacing rental costs by as much as 300% - (www.brokeragentpro.com)
Foreclosures 4 in 10 SoCal house sales - (lansner.freedomblogging.com)
UBS $100 Billion Mortgage Wager Caused $24 Billion Loss - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. bank shares sink after Oppenheimer cuts outlook - (www.reuters.com)
60,000 second houses could be sold off in English slump - (www.guardian.co.uk)

U.S. Stocks Drop on Credit Concern, Producer Prices; Banks Fall - (www.bloomberg.com)
Minutes of Federal Open Market Committee, April 29-30, 2008 - (www.federalreserve.gov)
The Risks of Rescuing Borrowers - (www.nytimes.com)
AAA expects fewer Americans to travel over Memorial Day - (www.azcentral.com)
Wealthy consumers cut back on spending, sort of - (www.latimes.com)
Georgia Power bills to go up $2.93 for fuel costs - (www.ajc.com)
NY Times Still Does Not Understand the Housing Crash - (www.prospect.org)
Economic Tide Is Rising for Repo Man - (www.nytimes.com)
US and Canada Demographic Time Bomb - (Mish at globaleconomicanalyst.blogspot.com)Things Are Heating Up - (Mike Morgan at realestateandhousing2.blogspot.com)
Four Overlooked Houseownership Costs - (biz.yahoo.com)

Banks still tough on buyouts - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Why a Housing Bailout Won't Help - (online.wsj.com)
Are commodity traders bidding up food, fuel prices? - (www.latimes.com)
Oil for 2016 Delivery Nears $140 on Supply Concern - (www.bloomberg.com)
Plunge in US commercial property - (www.ft.com)

Target 1Q profit drops, cites higher costs - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Saks profit jumps, but misses expectations - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Less Shopping = Fewer Malls - (online.wsj.com)
Trouble Hid in the Hedges - (online.wsj.com)
Airlines’ Cuts Making Cities No-Fly Zones - (www.nytimes.com)
Shoppers Stick to Buying Only Basics, Retailers Say - (www.nytimes.com)
Banking's Bear Roars Again - (www.portfolio.com)
Customer satisfaction with airlines lowest since 2001 - (www.latimes.com)
Chrysler extends gasoline offer - (www.chicagotribune.com)
AIG Hits 10-yr. Low On Capital Woe - (www.chron.com)
Southern casinos feeling economic pinch - (www.ajc.com)
Local governments rethink municipal Wi-Fi initiatives - (www.chicagotribune.com)

BOE Voted 8-1, Defeating Blanchflower's Call for Cut - (www.bloomberg.com)
German Business Confidence Unexpectedly Increased in May, Ifo Survey Shows - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.K. Rentals See a Boom As House Purchases Cool - (online.wsj.com)
Tice Proves Every Bear Has Its Day With 9.5% Return as He Invokes `D' Word - (www.bloomberg.com)

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)