Wednesday May 14 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

"Enormous" Bank Losses Still Not Acknowledged - (www.bloomberg.com)
Brentwood: California's poster child for housing bust - (www.scrippsnews.com)
California Screaming - (money.cnn.com)
Results from Piecemeal Housing Plans Leave Doubts About Effectiveness - (www.ml-implode.com) - "There are so many piecemeal plans operating such as Hope Now which is largely a product of many large mortgage servicers prodde...
Rep. Feeney Defends Renters and Real Owners - (www.youtube.com)
Dick Armey Discusses AngryRenter.com with Glenn Beck - (www.youtube.com)
Toll Brothers Revenue Drops as Housing Slump Persists - (www.ml-implode.com)
Frank-Dodd Proposal Makes Sense a Veto by the White House is Reckless - (www.ml-implode.com)
About Half Of Cleveland's Subprime Loans Ended In Foreclosure - (www.newsnet5.com)
Economy Puts Tight Squeeze On RV Makers - (online.wsj.com)


Other Stories:

$100,000+ Condos Made From Discarded Containers - (www.ml-implode.com) - "Discarded containers have been stacking up at ports. They are cheaper to build new than to return to their country of origin, s...
Even top commercial properties are suffering from market crisis - (www.ml-implode.com)
London Has Most Widespread Home-Price Drop Since 1994 - (www.ml-implode.com)
Citi Is Beyond Repair - Whitney Trashes Plan - (www.ml-implode.com)
CDO Debt Could Pose Renewed Danger For Banks - (www.ml-implode.com)
What causes foreclosures? - (www.wallstreetexaminer.com)
When Should I Buy a House? - (www.millionairemommynextdoor.blogspot.com)
The Fed Continues to Bamboozle Consumers - (www.dailyreckoning.com.au)
Where Your Tax Rebate Is Really Going - (www.minyanville.com)
Jumbo Loans Coming With Jumbo Price Tag - (www.ml-implode.com)
"Investor says HSBC undervalued loss by $30bn" - (www.ml-implode.com)
California man losing nine houses in mortgage mess - (www.reuters.com)
New mortgage crisis looms - (realestate.msn.com)
The Ticking Credit Card Time Bomb - (www.financialsense.com)
What Your House Will Be Worth Next Year - (www.efinancedirectory.com)
Democrats Face Rescue Backlash - (online.wsj.com)
Audio: Awards For Global Credit Crisis - (www.podcast.thisamericanlife.org)

Treasuries Fall as Retail Sales Less Autos Increase in April - (www.bloomberg.com)
Oil Rises to Record on Signs Refiners Not Meeting Fuel Demand - (www.bloomberg.com)
Most U.S. Stocks Gain, Led by Energy Shares; Yahoo Rallies - (www.bloomberg.com)
Commuting costs blamed as house prices fall - (www.palmbeachpost.com)
Public trust eroding as watchdogs fall down on the job - (www.marketwatch.com)
Regulators under fire for ignoring red flags - (www.washingtontimes.com)
US Housing Crash And Australia - (www.sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au)

U.S. April Retail Sales Fall 0.2%; Rise 0.5% Excluding Autos - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. Import Prices Rise 1.8% in April, Up 1.1% Excluding Oil - (www.bloomberg.com)
Bernanke Says Fed to Boost Loans to Banks as Needed - (www.bloomberg.com)
Housing Prices Tumble in Two-Thirds of U.S. Cities - (www.bloomberg.com)
Conformity trumphs green living in some HOAs - (www.chron.com)
Survey: 1 in 10 boomers borrowing for everyday expenses - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Pain at the Other Pump: Shoe Prices Rise - (online.wsj.com)
Latest Groans: Small-Business Loans - (online.wsj.com)

Libor Poised for Shake-Up as Credibility Is Doubted - (www.bloomberg.com)
Average gas prices set record at $3.72 a gallon - (www.usatoday.com)
Farmers unable to cash in on soaring food prices - (www.latimes.com)
Corn Prices Rise, Pitting Chickens Against Ethanol - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Wal-Mart Net Increases; Shares Fall on Forecast - (www.bloomberg.com)
Bank of America Sees Higher Losses on Home Equity - (www.bloomberg.com)
Goldman, Merrill Estimates Reduced at Oppenheimer - (www.bloomberg.com)
Hewlett-Packard Agrees to Acquire Electronic Data - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.K. April Inflation Rate Jumps the Most Since 2002 - (www.bloomberg.com)
China Retail Sales Rise at Fastest Pace Since 1999 - (www.bloomberg.com)
India's Futures Ban Is No Answer to Inflation: Andy Mukherjee - (www.bloomberg.com)
Surveyors' mood is gloomiest in nearly 30 years as slump deepens - (business.timesonline.co.uk)

A Wish List for Fixing Wall Street - (www.nytimes.com)

Wednesday April 30 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

U.S. Foreclosure Filings Double in First Quarter, Led by Nevada - (www.bloomberg.com) - California cities had six of the top 10 highest metropolitan area foreclosure rates. Stockton ranked first at one filing for every 30 households, almost seven times the national average. The city of more than 285,000 people claims to be California's 13th- largest. Riverside/San Bernardino was second in foreclosures at one for every 38 households. Bakersfield was fourth, Sacramento was fifth, San Diego was ninth and Oakland ranked tenth.
Vacant homes in U.S. set new record high - (www.dallasnews.com) - On Monday, the Census Bureau reported that the number of vacant homes for sale has hit a record high. The report shows that 2.9% of U.S. homes -- excluding rental properties -- were vacant and up for sale in the first quarter. That translates to about 2.28 million properties - the highest quarterly number on record since 1956.
Condo is Tower of Solitude - (www.tampabay.com) – Worth repeating this story. Condo owner has almost the entire hi-rise to himself.
Maintenance is slow. Not long ago, Johnny clogged the garbage chute with pizza boxes, and when no one showed up to fix the problem, he dragged a concrete block five flights up and dropped it in the chute. When that failed, he tried another. "It just exploded," he says. The pool isn't heated. Johnny suspects it's because there aren't enough residents to justify the bills. He did figure out how to activate the waterfall, which pours down from Disneyfied bluffs. Still, instead of mingling beauties on lounge chairs and late-night Red Bull-and-vodka parties, the only real action on pool deck is the occasional Realtor networking social. Yay.
S&P delivers blow to CDOs - (www.ft.com)
FHLB banks advances hit record high in 1st qtr - (www.reuters.com) - Freddie Mac (FRE.N: Quote, Profile, Research), and the Federal Housing Administration have become favored vehicles of the Bush administration as it makes efforts to stem surging mortgage defaults, falling home prices and rising foreclosures
Las Vegas, Miami and Phoenix house prices plummet by at least 20% - (money.cnn.com) GMAC Posts $589 Million Loss on Home Lending Woes - (www.bloomberg.com)
Countrywide Reports $893 Million Loss From Bad Loans - (www.bloomberg.com)
Foreclosed properties going for much less - (www.signonsandiego.com) – Foreclosed properties are often selling for $100K or more less so that brings down all home values.
Real estate guru may go to prision - (www.denverpost.com)
Middle class taps nest eggs to keep overpriced houses - (www.reuters.com)
A 27-year-old ponders walking away - (latimesblogs.latimes.com)
More on Catching the Bottom in Housing - (Charles Hugh Smith)
Buffett says recession may be worse than feared - (news.yahoo.com)


Other Stories:

Loan Industry Fighting Rules on Mortgages - (www.nytimes.com)
Rising Property Taxes Pinch Houseowners - (finance.yahoo.com)
Bringing a check to the table - (patrick.net)

Dollar's fall forces new standard of frugality - (www.sfgate.com)
'Tax rebate' checks: short-term benefits, long-term troubles - (www.csmonitor.com)
Expensive houses starting to show weakness - (www.nctimes.com)
Mortgage crisis hits prime borrowers in NH - (www.unionleader.com)

U.S. Stocks Decline as Consumer Confidence, Home Prices Fall - (www.bloomberg.com)
Dollar Rises to Three-Week High on Bets Fed Will Signal Pause - (www.bloomberg.com)
18.6 million houses empty because prices still too high - (www.bloomberg.com)
Why Not Let Markets Set Prices? - (www.europac.net)
Inflated Appraisals May Become a Crime of the Past - (www.efinancedirectory.com)
Builders say whatever gets them money - (patrick.net)
So many scams, so few watchdogs - (www.tampabay.com)
House Sales, Inventory Chart - (www.seekingalpha.com)
S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. Home-Price Index Fell 12.7% - (www.bloomberg.com)
Consumer Confidence in U.S. Fell to Five-Year Low - (www.bloomberg.com)
Truckers protest high gasoline prices - (www.ap.com)
Fed's Bailout Is Questioned By Ex-Staffer - (online.wsj.com)
Philadelphia Fed chief is hawkish on inflation - (www.philly.com)
Tip-dependent workers feeling the slump - (www.latimes.com)
Good credit, bad loans - (money.cnn.com)
Survey finds millionaires singing the recession blues, too - (www.rockymountainnews.com)
A Credit-Card Crackdown - (online.wsj.com)
Amid High Oil Prices, Danger Signs in Production - (www.nytimes.com)
Coal price hikes boost electric rates, more increases coming - (www.chicagotribune.com)

GM to cut production of light trucks, SUVs - (www.latimes.com)
Fuel costs force airlines to change strategy - (www.dallasnews.com)
Inside Citi, a Hedge-Fund Push Blows Up - (online.wsj.com)
Deutsche Bank Says It Had First Loss in Five Years - (www.bloomberg.com)
Gasoline costs force service firms to raise prices - (www.latimes.com)
Papers' circulation declines continue - (www.chicagotribune.com)

Germany's inflation dip brings relief for ECB - (www.ft.com)
Europe faces 'inflationary shock,' EU official says - (www.iht.com)
Soaring Rice Prices Send Asian Nations Scrambling - (online.wsj.com)
European Retail Sales Slumped in April, PMI Shows - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.K. Loan Approvals Reach Lowest Since at Least 1999 - (www.bloomberg.com)
India's central bank hikes cash reserve ratio to fight inflation - (news.yahoo.com/s/afp)
As demand for rice climbs, international trade falls - (www.iht.com)

Panel to Look at Foreclosure Practices - (www.nytimes.com)
What the Fed Could Learn from Europe's Central Bank - (www.spiegel.de)
Southern California faces higher blackout risk this summer - (www.latimes.com)
Emptying the Breadbasket - (www.washingtonpost.com)
The Ethanol Cure's Side Effects - (www.washingtonpost.com)

Wednesday April 23 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Starting over at 40 because of a foolish house purchase - (money.cnn.com) – Similar to Pip in Great Expectations starting, this story profiles 10-20 people who are starting over in their 30s and 40s.
The End of Shopping - (www.newsweek.com) - At the end of 2007, household borrowing was a dizzying $14 trillion.For the past quarter century, Americans have gone on an unprecedented consumption binge—for cars, TVs, longer vacations and just about anything. The consequences have been profound for both the United States and the rest of the world, and the passage to something different and unknown may not be an improvement.
Arson to avoid foreclosure? - (www.latimes.com)
Regulator fears wave of bank failures - (www.ft.com) US bank failures could rise above “historical norms” as a weakening economy puts pressure on badly underwritten loans, particularly in commercial real estate, according to a bank regulator - 23:52
The new underground currency - (www.startribune.com) - Thieves are ransacking house after house in search of copper they can sell to scrap dealers for as much as $20,000 a month.
Condos with absolutely zero value - (seekingalpha.com) - AIG, Fannie and Freddie Put the Crunch on Condo Mortgages. imagine a world where condos (outside of NYC, Boston, Chicago and LA) have absolutely no value. They are simply transferred between “owners” for the assumption of operating expenses. Don’t laugh. Operating expenses and taxes, without even considering a mortgage, can easily run over $3000 a month for a nice 2 bedroom/2 bath in southeast Florida. Few retirees could swing this. I do not know how real estate taxes would be calculated, but I would not doubt government’s creativity in collecting revenue.
California foreclosure "surge": Up 327% from '07 levels - (www.ml-implode.com) - "Sinking home values and the collapse of flimsy mortgages sent a record number of California homes into the foreclosure process ...
Housing slump may exceed Depression - (www.ml-implode.com) - ''An influential economist who long predicted the housing market bubble cautioned Tuesday that the slump in the U.S. housing mar...
Condo buyers had a lot to beware of - (www.floridatoday.com)
Oil nears $120 as market tightens - (www.ft.com) - Opec attempts to reassure on supplies
Call Goes Out to Rein In Grain Speculators - (online.wsj.com)
Lenders derail plan to let bankruptcy judges modify mortgages - (www.latimes.com) – Thank god someone derailed this idiotic law, even if it is the lenders. If we change 200 years of contract law in this country, we are all in trouble.
Shanghai down over 50% from peak - (www.ft.com) – Yes, I would call this a stealth crash.
Duesseldorfer Hypo Rescued by Bank Group After Crisis - (www.bloomberg.com)


Other Stories:

Less leverage means smaller deals - (www.financialweek.com)
Renters can't escape housing foreclosure crisis - (www.ml-implode.com) - ''The most brutal real estate slump in decades is reverberating through the rental market. Renters in properties that are being ...
Too many people own houses - (www.tnr.com)
The Houseownership Ideologues - (www.truthout.org)
Government deaf to simple plea: less debt! - (patrick.net)
Falling San Diego house prices are a great thing - (www.signonsandiego.com)
Florida luxury house market shows signs of wear - (www.reuters.com)
Foreclosure Group Says Servicing Efforts Still Fall Short - (www.ml-implode.com) - The group noted that at-risk borrowers are receiving more help than in the past, but most are still not on track for any meanin...
If Lawrence Yun wanted to be more helpful... - (www.ml-implode.com) - ''NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun spun Greenspamisims not the truth of the facts
BofA, Countrywide to Curtail Risky Mortgage Lending - (www.ml-implode.com)
Black Swan song - (www.ml-implode.com)
Option ARM Specialist Downey Financial Loses $248 Million in Q1 - (www.ml-implode.com)
Most Home-Equity Line Delinquencies Keep Rising - (www.ml-implode.com)
SF Bay Area prices continue to fall - (eastbayhousingbubble.blogspot.com)
Graphs of CA Prices Crashing - (patrick.net)
What Ails American Economy? Everything, and Worse to Come - (www.nytimes.com)
The market's worst is yet to come - (articles.moneycentral.msn.com)
It’s Not What You Take, But How You Take It - (www.ml-implode.com)
The Ponzi Smokin’ Gun - (www.ml-implode.com)
The Credit Crunch is Dead! Long Live the Credit Crunch! - (www.ml-implode.com)
The Trillion Dollar Bailout - (www.ml-implode.com)
Concerns rising that Fannie and Freddie could need bailout - (money.cnn.com)
Quelle Surprise! National Association of Realtors Says Many Housing Markets Doing Well - (www.ml-implode.com)

Crude Oil Reaches All-Time High Above $119 on Record Euro - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. Stocks Retreat on Earnings Concern, Record Oil Prices - (www.bloomberg.com)
Euro Surpasses $1.60 for First Time on ECB's Inflation Outlook - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. Existing Home Sales Fell in March; Prices Lower - (www.bloomberg.com)
Corporate earnings about to take a tumble - (www.financialweek.com)
California foreclosure "surge": Up 327% from '07 levels - (www.latimes.com)
California's Home-Mortgage Defaults More Than Double - (www.bloomberg.com)
Arts institutions feeling impact of ailing economy - (www.azcentral.com)
With gas hitting record highs, drivers feeling squeezed - (www.ap.com)
Renters can't escape housing foreclosure crisis - (www.usatoday.com)

Loan Losses Pose Threat to Banks - (online.wsj.com)
Why stocks go up when they shouldn't - (www.nypost.com)
So Far, So Good on Bailouts, but How Long Will They Last? - (online.wsj.com)
Prices slashed on Chrysler loan sales - (www.ft.com)
Most Troubled Mortgage Borrowers Without Plan, Report Finds - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Rise in secret stock trading - (www.financialweek.com)

Florida luxury home market shows signs of wear - (www.signonsandiego.com)
New rules propose added scrutiny for sovereign wealth fund transactions - (www.financialweek.com)
Saudis warn on oil capacity - (www.ft.com)
Art market shrugs off credit crunch - (www.ft.com)
Gannett profit declines 9% on weaker ad sales - (www.marketwatch.com)
National City Follows Wachovia, WaMu, Taps `Abundance' of Cash - (www.bloomberg.com)
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Warned on Accounting - (www.washingtonpost.com)
SunTrust Quarterly Profit Falls 45% on Provisions for Bad Loans - (www.bloomberg.com)
Bank of America to alter loan practices - (www.chicagotribune.com)
RBS to Sell $24 Billion in Shares After Markdowns - (www.bloomberg.com)
Triple-A Failure - (www.nytimes.com)
The new face of hunger - (www.economist.com)

Tuesday April 22 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Libor rate jumps again, still not quite honest - (www.marketwatch.com)
Minnesota's new ghost towns - (www.startribune.com)
Chic, Urban, and Deserted in Vegas - (www.lasvegassun.com)
Subprime debt selling at 10-20 cents on the dollar - (www.goldmau.com)
When a HELOC freezes over - (money.cnn.com)
Bank of America Net Income Falls 77% on Writedowns - (www.ml-implode.com)
$10 Billion Hedge Fund Trade Stings Rivals - (www.nytimes.com) – Yes, Hedge Funds have been playing the steep yield curve trade again and some got partially burned last week.
Amid strong farm economy, some dire signs - (www.ap.com)
Credit getting even tighter for condominium buyers - (www.chicagotribune.com)
BoE unveils 'special liquidity scheme' - (www.ft.com) – Bank of England silently nationalizing mortgage market like the US. Also taking bad debt off the hands of unwise and speculative lenders.
Bank of England Will Unveil Bond Swap to Ease Mortgage Market - (www.bloomberg.com)
$100 Billion Securities Swap at Bank of England - (www.nytimes.com)
Are 98% of the Henderson, NV area houses for sale in foreclosure? - (patrick.net)
OC's high-rent districts suffer higher apartment vacancies - (lansner.freedomblogging.com)
The Orange County you won't see on fantasy TV - (www.businessweek.com)
Analyst Whitney Thinks Wells Fargo Needs Reserves, Capital - (www.ml-implode.com) - Whitney believes that Wells Fargo is under-reserved by at least $4.5 billion as of Monday and will need to raise capital to res...
Auction-Rate Market Shrinks by 18% Amid State Probes - (www.ml-implode.com) - The U.S. auction-rate bond market is starting to disappear. At least $58.9 billion, or 18 percent of the securities outstan...


Other Stories:

Homebuilder shares fall ahead of earnings this week amid troubled housing market - (www.ml-implode.com) - ''Homebuilder shares fell Monday as several companies prepare to report quarterly results this week amid a housing market that c...
The trillion-dollar mortgage time bomb - (www.ml-implode.com) - ''Among the nightmares lurking around the corner for the already battered housing and credit markets would be a meltdown at mort...
Maladjustment - (www.ml-implode.com) - ''Don’t look now, but the next casualties of Bubble-Economics is being set up. Agriculture today is a about as distorted and mal...
An Alarming Forecast For The Housing Bust - (www.ml-implode.com)

Auction-Rate Market Shrinks by 18% as SEC, States Investigate - (www.bloomberg.com)
Euro Rises to Within Cent of Record Versus Dollar on ECB View - (www.bloomberg.com)
Treasuries Little Changed as Fed Rate Cut Expectations Decline - (www.bloomberg.com)
Bernanke Grapples With Greenspan as Volcker Scorns Fed Bailouts - (www.bloomberg.com)
Credit Woes Stifle Small-Biz Loans - (www.cfo.com)
Risks rise for Fannie, Freddie - (money.cnn.com)
Florida luxury home market shows signs of wear - (www.ml-implode.com)

Financial slump could hit new graduates - (www.ft.com)
Teens turn to thrift as jobs vanish and prices rise - (www.usatoday.com)
Door maker to shut down Tolleson plant - (www.azcentral.com)
Colorado town outsources public works - (denver.bizjournals.com)
Survey: 30 percent believe economy will shrink - (www.newsday.com)

Treasury sell-off hits housing recovery hopes - (www.ft.com)
Wheels Come Off ADS, Blackstone Deal - (www.thestreet.com).com
Debt may be a factor in suspicious house, car fires - (www.latimes.com)
Housing: Time to Halt Taxpayer Subsidies - (www.businessweek.com)
Fed hawks warn on inflation - (www.reuters.com)
Ponzi Squared - (norris.blogs.nytimes.com)
Big Pensions Slash Stock Investments - (www.cfo.com)
Venture capital investing slows in first quarter - (www.marketwatch.com)
Oil producers refuse to raise output - (news.yahoo.com/s/afp)

Lenders lock out new borrowers - (www.independent.co.uk)
Bring back the Gold Standard? - (optionarmageddon.blogspot.com)
Foreclosed listings from Hollywood to Glendale - (www.latimes.com)
Housing slide picks up speed in Chicago - (www.chicagobusiness.com)
Housing sales tumble across Canada - (www.reportonbusiness.com)
How I am Surviving the Sub-Prime Crisis - (www.hubpages.com)
A seller triumphs in a bad micro-market's micro-bloodbath - (www.sfgate.com)
Greenspan, Cheerleader for debt - (from 2004) - (www.bloomberg.com)
Gas, CPI, and Fraud - (www.youtube.com)

Bank of America Net Income Falls 77% on Writedowns - (www.bloomberg.com)
XM, Sirius Still Have Much to Prove - (www.thestreet.com).com
Funds to invest up to $8bn in National City bank - (www.ft.com)
Dollar's plunge becoming lynchpin in 1Q earnings - (www.signonsandiego.com)
Student Lenders Pull a Failing Grade - (www.thestreet.com).com
Corroded to the core: How a staid Swiss bank let ambitions lead it into folly - (www.ft.com)
AT&T to cut about 4,600 jobs - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Is this the end for cheap airline fares? - (www.chicagotribune.com)

Hint of Division in ECB - (online.wsj.com)
World recession 'worst since 70s' - (news.bbc.co.uk)
Asia Risks `Silent Famine' as Food Soars, WFP Warns - (www.bloomberg.com)
Wall St. Socialism A Brave New Federal Reserve - (www.nypost.com)
D.C. debate is whether to regulate or not - (www.ap.com)