Wednesday June 4 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

The "parking lot" homeless of Santa Barbara - (edition.cnn.com) There are 12 parking lots across Santa Barbara that have been set up to accommodate the growing middle-class homelessness. It is illegal for people in California to sleep in their cars on streets. New Beginnings worked with the city to allow the parking lots as a safe place for the homeless to sleep in their vehicles without being harassed by people on the streets or ticketed by police.
Harvey stays at the city's only parking lot for women. "This is very safe, and that's why I feel very comfortable," she said.
Fat pensions spell doom for many cities - (money.cnn.com) – People should be up in arms over these costs: But the real nail in Vallejo's coffin was the city's labor costs. Under the current labor agreement, the average police officer walking the beat in Vallejo will be paid $122,000 this year before overtime, according to city documents. An average sergeant will make $151,000; a captain, $231,000. The average firefighter, meanwhile, will bring in $130,000 before overtime.
It’s Not So Easy Being Less Rich - (globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com) - NANCY CHEMTOB, a divorce lawyer in Manhattan, has found that her days have become crammed seeing clients, all worried about how an economic downturn will affect their marriages. One of her clients recently confessed that his net worth had decreased to $8 million from more than $20 million, and he thinks that his wife will leave him. He has hidden their fall in fortune by taking on debt to pay for her extravagant clothes and vacations. “I literally had to sit there and tell him that he had to tell his wife that she had to stop spending,” she said. “He was actually scared she would leave him because their financial situation changed so drastically.”
Mr. Mortgage: CA Housing Stats…The Real Story. 4.25 Years Supply - (www.ml-implode.com) - ``Most think the CA ‘housing crash’ has been ongoing for a couple of years. That is not the case... California has YEARS OF INVE...
-2 + -2 = 4 as Liabilities Get New Bond Math - (www.bloomberg.com) Leave it to Wall Street to profit from its own distress. Merrill Lynch & Co., Citigroup Inc. and four other U.S. financial companies have used an accounting rule adopted last year to book almost $12 billion of revenue after a decline in prices of their own bonds. The rule, intended to expand the ``mark-to- market'' accounting that banks use to record profits or losses on trading assets, allows them to report gains when market prices for their liabilities fall.
Expensive House Fails To Sell, Then Burns - (www.arktimes.com)
Villains in Mortgage Mess? Start at Wall Street. Keep Going. - (www.washingtonpost.com) - But make no mistake: Today's crisis dwarfs the S&L fiasco. The eventual cost to taxpayers of this scandal is likely to make yesteryear's culprits look like pikers.
The short version of how we got here: Lenders, fat with money made cheap by the federal government, aggressively coaxed millions of borrowers to take out unaffordable mortgages. They lent this money without assessing whether borrowers could repay it. They assumed, in fact, that most wouldn't be able to and would have to refinance into new, equally unaffordable loans. This process would produce an endless cycle of fees for the lenders -- but only if home prices rose, fairy-tale-like, forever.
Another English Bank In Trouble - (news.yahoo.com) - Shares in British buy-to-let specialist Bradford & Bingley plunged Monday after it issued a profit warning and agreed to a massive US cash boost, sparking fresh credit-crunch nerves after the Northern Rock fiasco
Foreclosure capital Stockton has odd market - (msnbc.msn.com)
Thornburg Earnings Further Delayed, Stock Faces Delisting - (www.ml-implode.com) - Thornburg Mortgage announced today that it needed even more time to complete its form 10-Q for the first quarter, which was expe...


Other Stories:

Bernanke Blames Saving Glut For Housing Bubble - (globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com) – Greenspan was known for his Fed Speak, but I think this tops many of Greenspan’s deflections of blame. Very funny. In the financial sphere, the three longer-term developments I have identified are linked by the fact that a substantial increase in the net supply of saving in emerging market economies contributed to both the U.S. housing boom and the broader credit boom. The sources of this increase in net saving included rapid growth in high-saving East Asian countries and, outside of China, reduced investment rates in that region; large buildups in foreign exchange reserves in a number of emerging markets; and the enormous increases in the revenues received by exporters of oil and other commodities. The pressure of these net savings flows led to lower long-term real interest rates around the world, stimulated asset prices (including house prices), and pushed current accounts toward deficit in the industrial countries--notably the United States--that received these flows. To be sure, the large inflows of savings and low global interest rates presented a valuable opportunity to the recipient countries, provided they invested the inflows wisely. Unfortunately, this did not always occur, as an increased appetite for risk-taking--a "reaching for yield"--stimulated some financial innovations and lending practices that proved imprudent or otherwise questionable.
America's Recession Could Slip to Depression - (waldo.villagesgroup.com)Nystrom: The Second Great Depression Visits Detroit – (depression2.tv/d2/node/118)
US News: Peter Schiff's Worst Case Scenario - (www.usnews.com)
Economist: America's Housing Prices Falling Faster than During Great Depression - (www.economist.com)
* VIDEO: THE CASE FOR THE PROSECUTION OF GEORGE W. BUSH FOR MURDER * - (bullnotbull.blogspot.com)
Mike Whitney: Economic depression in America: Evidence of a withering economy is everywhere - (www.globalresearch.ca)
Credit Hurricane To Make Landfall - (www.ml-implode.com) - An incredible (yet sobering) article by Benet Sedecca. Some highlights: Another important takeaway was that the older and mo...
Foreclosures Cost Lenders, Homeowners, the Community, and You Big Bucks - (www.ml-implode.com) - "Earlier this month a reader, Pamela Norvell, wrote a suggestion for lessening the foreclosure crisis. She suggested a freeze an...
Corporate Bankruptcies Increase As More Near "Financial Disaster" - (www.bankruptcy-statistics.com)
GM Closing 4 More Plants in North America - (biz.yahoo.com/ap)
Bernanke Signals Discomfort With Weak Dollar (But what's he going to do about it?) - (www.marketwatch.com)
Subprime Crisis to Hit Egypt? - (weekly.ahram.org.eg)
Ike Obasi Wants to Sell You a House - (www.businessweek.com)
House Prices, Confidence Continue Plunge - (www.seekingalpha.com)
Where the Financial Crisis Is Headed Next - (www.smartmoney.com)
Why Lower House Prices Are in Your Interest - (www.seekingalpha.com)
Alt-A Borrowers Looking More Like Subprime than Prime - (www.researchrecap.com)
Desperate Americans Selling Nest Eggs - (www.clusterstock.com)
Total Borrowings of Banks from Fed - (research.stlouisfed.org)
Japan financial firms' 2007 subprime losses total Y1.9 trillion - (www.marketwatch.com)
Japan a good buy in contrary trend - (www.iht.com)
Foreclosure Bus Tour, Sign of Housing Bust, Hits NY Area - (bloomberg.com)
The market turns cold in a desert boomtown - (latimes.com)
High food and energy prices not all bad - (www.washingtontimes.com)

Oil Falls More Than $1 as Bernanke Signals U.S. Rates on Hold - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. Stocks Rise on Bernanke Outlook, Growth in Factory Orders - (www.bloomberg.com)
Dollar Rises to Two-Week High Versus Euro on Bernanke's Remarks - (www.bloomberg.com)

Bernanke signals discomfort with weak dollar - (www.marketwatch.com)
Skyrocketing gasoline prices force changes - (www.latimes.com)
Souring economy puts the bite on pet owners - (www.chicagotribune.com)
After Mortgages, Construction Crisis May Be Building - (online.wsj.com)
Credit worries rattle markets again - (www.reuters.com)
An Impossible Dream, the Euro Finds Its Way - (www.nytimes.com)
Apollo unit halts cash payouts - (www.ft.com)
Soros sounds alarm on oil 'bubble' - (www.ft.com)
Las Vegas called 'mortgage fraud ground zero' - (www.usatoday.com)
Wheat futures surge near $8 on hot U.S. weather - (www.signonsandiego.com)

Lehman may raise $3-4 billion fresh capital: (online.wsj.com) - (www.reuters.com)
GM to Close Four Plants, Shift Production to Cars - (www.bloomberg.com)
Lehman Weighs Raising Capital - (online.wsj.com)
Toll Brothers swings to Q2 loss - (www.reuters.com)
Marriott sees softening US demand - (www.marketwatch.com)
ResCap says needs more liquidity - (www.ap.com)
After Wachovia, WaMu Shuffles, Who's Next? - (www.thestreet.com)
Winnebago Idles Plant in Iowa - (online.wsj.com)
Dutch wind power giant to open research center in Houston - (www.chron.com)
GM seen cutting deeper as recovery sideswiped - (www.reuters.com)

European Producer-Price Inflation Accelerates to 6.1% - (www.bloomberg.com)
Foreign investors 'losing faith' in economy - (www.ft.com)
U.S. Slump Spreading To Canada? - (www.forbes.com)
Inflating China - (online.wsj.com)
Europe's Expansion Accelerates More Than Estimated - (www.bloomberg.com)
China says U.S. economic slump won't deflate exports - (www.latimes.com)
Food Production Must Rise 50% - (online.wsj.com)

Thursday April 17 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

JPMorgan Quietly Raising $6 Billion - (www.ml-implode.com) - The hush-hush plans to raise capital at the Wall Street bank would seem to contrast sharply against remarks made by JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon earlier Wednesday, who had said that the credit mess was “working itself out.” No mention was made on the earnings call about raising $6 billion, and a source that spoke with HW reacted to the news with stunned silence upon hearing of the plan.
Foreclosures' grim rise reverses fortunes in city - (www.palmbeachpost.com)
States Tackle Foreclosures In Absence of Federal Help - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Foreclosure Act Does Squat for Houseowners - (www.thestreet.com) – It shouldn’t do squat for homeowners or lenders or banks. Let’s face it, most deserve the situation they are in.
US mortgage clock ticking, Dodd warns - (www.ft.com)
Der Spiegel: The Madness of Ben Bernanke - (www.spiegel.de)
Washington Mutual swings to 1Q loss on $3.5B provision - (www.forbes.com)
Merrill Upped Ante as Bonds Fizzled - (online.wsj.com)
JPMorgan Net Drops 50% on $5.1 Billion of Writedowns, Reserves - (www.bloomberg.com)
Dollar Falls to Record Against Euro as EU Inflation Quickens - (www.bloomberg.com)
Businesses Get Big Tax Breaks in Housing Bill - (www.nytimes.com)
Banking Supervisors Move to Gird International System - (www.iht.com)
March's housing stats grim; no sign of foreclosure peak - (www.modbee.com)
Houseowners get that drowning feeling - (www.sfgate.com)
SoCal house prices fall to 2004 levels - (latimesblogs.latimes.com)
Housing crisis yields 18.9-month supply of houses for sale - (www.freep.com)
Merrill's Reckless Mortgage Bond Binge - (www.ml-implode.com)


Other Stories:

S&P may cut $57 bln subprime debt, reviewing loss - (www.ml-implode.com) - Standard & Poor's on Tuesday said it may cut $57.1 billion of subprime-related debt due to continuing delinquencies and a wor...
Government plans to help UK banks - (www.ml-implode.com) - The Bank of England is poised to launch a new lending programme for UK banks in an effort to break the logjam in the credit mar...
CtW Invest Asks WaMu Board To Demand Resignations Of 2 Directors - (www.ml-implode.com)
Economists Debate Link Between War, Credit Crisis - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Coming Soon to a Bank Near You: The $57 Overdraft Fee? - (blog.lendingclub.com)
The Price of Oil Hasn't Budged Since 2001 -- Priced in Gold - (www.dailygreen.com)
Bush the Most Unpopular Post War President Ever - (abcnews.go.com)
Fears of Long Recession Rising - (money.cnn.com)
80% of Arab World Has Negative View of US - (news.bbc.co.uk)
Obama Would Ask His AG to "Immediately Review" Potential Bush War Crimes - (www.philly.com)
Dollar Falls to Record Low vs. Euro - (www.bloomberg.com)
Price of Oil, Gas Hit New Highs - (ww.nytimes.com)
The Next Mortgage Crisis - (www.slate.com)
Why the next mortgage crisis may be worse - (www.slate.com)
House Sales, Prices Down In January - (www.allheadlinenews.com)
New buyers need a price crash - (www.introducertoday.co.uk)
Borrowers Sober Up - (www.seekingalpha.com)
Ron Paul Sees Bailout Writing on the Wall - (www.usnews.com)
Angry Renter: Oppose the Mortgage Lender Housing Bailout - (www.angryrenter.com)

Gold, Silver Climb as Dollar Falls to All-Time Low Against Euro - (www.bloomberg.com)
Oil, Gasoline Rise to Records After Unexpected U.S. Supply Drop - (www.bloomberg.com)
Foreclosures Jump 57% as Homedebtors WALK AWAY - (www.bloomberg.com)
California Foreclosures Increase 20 Percent in March - (www.kpbs.org)
Foreclosures continue to soar, worst is not over - (www.msnbc.msn.com)
Foreclosure glut further depresses housing prices - (www.latimes.com)
As Greenspan's reputation sinks, Volcker's rises - (msnbc.msn.com)
Wholesale prices soared in March: Thank The Fed - (news.yahoo.com)
'Mr. No Bailout' getting noticed - (www.kentucky.com)

U.S. Housing Starts Slide to Lowest Level in 17 Years - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. Consumer Prices Rose 0.3% in March, Led by Food - (www.bloomberg.com)
Fed Beige Book Says Economy `Weakened' Since February - (www.bloomberg.com)
Inflation Everywhere - (www.forbes.com)
Bankruptcy filings rise 38% in 2007 - (www.latimes.com)
An Inflation Indicator Leaves the Fed in a Tough Spot - (www.nytimes.com)
Houston's upscale home sales fall victim to slump - (www.chron.com)
Record number of Atlanta properties up for auction - (www.ajc.com)
Rate of home foreclosures expected to get worse - (www.usatoday.com)
Bankers Cast Doubt on Key Rate - (online.wsj.com)
OECD predicts subprime losses to hit $420bn - (www.ft.com)
Subprime past its heyday - (www.financialweek.com)
Foreclosure glut further depresses housing prices - (www.latimes.com)
Hedge Funds Need More Oversight, Transparency, Treasury Panels Say - (www.washingtonpost.com)

Merrill Lynch to write down further $6-8 bln: report - (www.reuters.com)
Fannie, Freddie regulator sees more risk ahead - (www.reuters.com)
GM plant partially halts production due to strike - (money.cnn.com)
2 more carriers consider merging - (www.latimes.com)
Europe car sales hit by financial crisis - (www.ft.com)
North Korea Faces Food Crisis, UN Agency Warns - (www.bloomberg.com)

Wednesday April 16 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Implications of Central Bank monetary policies, Politician subsidies for farmers to convert food to Bio-Fuels. But do we expect anything other than market meddling from our representatives in government?
· Stupiditiy, Fuel Choices & Food Crises - (www.nytimes.com)
· Riots, Instability Spread as Food Prices Skyrocket - (www.cnn.com)
· IMF Alert on Starvation and Civil Unrest - (www.smh.com.au)
· Food Riots 'An apocalyptic warning' - (www.abc.net.au)
· Oil Hits $113 - (www.bloomberg.com)
· Egyptians Cannot Afford Daily Bread - (edition.cnn.com)

Mortgage Payments Worry Many - (www.sfgate.com)
Many Homedebtors Can Walk Away With No Penalty - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com)
Fuel Choices, Food Crises and Finger-Pointing - (www.nytimes.com) – I like how the originators of the food to biofuel programs are trying hard to defend the program.
Foreclosures on Marco Island, FL - (patrick.net) – Look at the foreclosure map/chart for the island. Pretty wild.
Feeling cheated, houseowners sue Realtors - (www.lvrj.com) – This is another case. Previous case was near San Diego. This one is near Las Vegas.
Youngstown Ohio: The Incredible Shrinking City - (money.cnn.com)
Falling corporate profits gouge wider hole in Calif. budget - (www.latimes.com)
Southern California home prices slide to 2004 levels - (www.latimes.com)
March's median is off 5.6% from the previous month and 23.8% from February 2007.
Crocs to fire 600 workers in Canada after cutting profit, sales forecasts - (www.latimes.com) Crocs, maker of the namesake colorful clogs, said it would fire its 600 Canadian plant workers after lowering annual earnings and sales forecasts as consumer spending
Citi allows loan 'cherry picking' - (www.ft.com)
'Tranche warfare' breaks out over CDOs - (www.ft.com)
Sour economy casts pall over once sunny Florida - (www.reuters.com)
Jefferson County Wins Bond Payment Break as State Mulls Options - (www.bloomberg.com) – Alabama county spared bankruptcy for now.


Other Stories:

Southern California home prices take another hit - (www.latimes.com) - The region's median sales price drops to $385,000 in March. The total number of homes sold is up from February, but down 41% from a year ago.
FT: US Credit Rating Under Threat - (ws.ft.com)
March Wholesale Prices Soar – (biz.yahoo.com/ap)
Cascading Retail Bankruptcies as Recession Takes HoldBear Market Rally Fooling No One - (www.stuff.co.nz)
Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo Warn "Delusional" Investors on Stocks - (www.telegraph.co.uk)US Foreclosures Jump 57 as Homeowners Just Say No - (www.bloomberg.com)
Bulging Prisons Drain Michigan's Budget - (www.detnews.com)
And now this: Boomers to Flood Medical System - (www.sfgate.com)

Oil, Gasoline Climb to Records as Investors Move to Commodities - (www.bloomberg.com)
Corn, Soybeans Rise on `Buying Panic' to Avoid Food Shortages - (www.bloomberg.com)
US consumer confidence lowest since Oct 1993 - (www.reuters.com)
US Foreclosure Filings Jump in March - (www.chicagotribune.com)
U.S. Foreclosures Jump 57% as Homeowners Walk Away - (www.bloomberg.com)
America's long hangover - (www.economist.com)
The next mortgage crisis - (www.slate.com)
New York Fed Factory Index Unexpectedly Rose in April - (www.bloomberg.com)
Largest Vegas casino operator fires 440 - (www.allheadlinenews.com)

Swaps Tied to Losses Transformed Into `Frankenstein's Monster' - (www.bloomberg.com)
Hedge funds don't need rules, just guidance: - (www.ap.com)
Global funding pressures intensify - (www.ft.com)
More shock than awe this earnings season - (www.nypost.com)
Mark to market good for the long term? - (www.cfo.com)
Growing Majority Avoid Buying Houses - (apnews.myway.com)
Embracing shrinkage - (money.cnn.com)
National web of greed lured foolish buyers - (news.bostonherald.com)
Auction-Rate Bond Market Will `Cease to Exist', Citigroup Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
Credit-Default Swaps Market Grows to $62.2 Trillion, ISDA Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
Pessimism over housing crisis grows - (www.signonsandiego.com)
Food Shortage Rises With Prices - (www.forbes.com)
Squeeze takes toll on US student loans - (www.ft.com)
Success as a trader linked to testosterone level? - (www.chicagotribune.com)
America's Worst-Selling Housing Markets - (www.forbes.com)
Fourth-largest US bank resorts to emergency fundraising - (www.guardian.co.uk)
U.S. housing collapse spreads overseas - (www.iht.com)
An Economy Built On Lies - (www.lewrockwell.com)

Report Highlights Fannie, Freddie Risks - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Intel Forecast Tops Analysts' Estimates; Shares Rise - (www.bloomberg.com)
The bust is starting to catch up with regional lenders - (www.economist.com)
Retailing Chains Caught in a Wave of Bankruptcies - (www.nytimes.com)
Surprise Loss at Wachovia Stirs Profit-Season Unease - (www.nytimes.com)
Fitch downgrades Macy's to near junk - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Chrysler, Nissan buy each other's vehicle - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Small business: How to borrow in a weak economy - (www.newsday.com)
Appraisers say WaMu cut corners to increase its mortgage business - (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
Fannie, Freddie pressed on risk management - (www.ft.com)
The Housing Bailout Backlash - (www.usnews.com)
California Median: $373,000, Fannie Limit: $729,500. Make Sense? - (www.mybudget360.com)
Letter To Senators - (patrick.net)
At Wachovia, Pick-A-Pay Becomes Pick-A-Problem - (money.cnn.com)
What Warren thinks investors should do - (money.cnn.com)

London could lose 40,000 financial jobs - (www.reportonbusiness.com)
Eurozone inflation at 16-year high - (www.ft.com)
Fears that Russian oil output has hit its peak - (www.ft.com)
UK housing gloom 'worst in 30 years' - (news.bbc.co.uk)
German Investor Confidence Unexpectedly Fell in April - (www.bloomberg.com)
City may lose 40,000 jobs, predicts JP Morgan - (www.telegraph.co.uk)
U.K. RICS House-Price Balance Is Worst Since 1978 - (www.bloomberg.com)
Insight: Watch out for aftershocks - (www.ft.com) ($) , Stephen Roach
Goldman Says "Awful" Profits Will Drag Down Stocks - (www.bloomberg.com)
Auction Rate Collapse Creates 12% After-Tax - (www.bloomberg.com)
House Price Crash Calculator - (img.thisismoney.co.uk)

Wednesday April 9 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

HOUSING: 'Feeding frenzy' in Las Vegas - (www.ml-implode.com) - 'More than half of Las Vegas home sales in March were foreclosures or short sales, the president of Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors said Monday.'
Stockton: Ghost Town USA - (marketplace.publicradio.org)
Aging process quickly hits homes in Las Vegas - (www.latimes.com)
Big US student loan guarantor files for bankruptcy - (www.reuters.com) – Credit crisis could be affecting whether students go to college
Lenders could have verified borrower income with IRS - (www.nytimes.com) - But why would they want to do something like this, this would have cut back on their bond offerings and big bonuses J
First Marblehead Tumbles After Guarantor Files Chapter 11 - (www.bloomberg.com)
As housing falls, short sales becoming common - (www.ml-implode.com) - “... numbers suggest that 20 percent of completed home sales nationwide are short sales,”
Greenspan: Credit Crisis Worst in 50 Years - (www.bloomberg.com)
Greenspan Blames Investors For Crisis - (www.nypost.com) – Still not taking responsibility and making up reasons why the credit crisis is not his fault
Greenspan overfloweth - (www.ml-implode.com) - 'Sometimes the best defense is a good offense and that clearly seems to be the tack that former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan has ...
His Legacy Tarnished, Greenspan Goes on Defensive - (online.wsj.com)
Institutional Panic May Fuel Recession - (www.bloomberg.com)
Railcars idle as economy falters - (www.ap.com)
Rice Jumps to Record on Philippine Imports, Curbs on Exports - (www.bloomberg.com)
A Society that Punishes Savers - (www.mybudget360.com)
Foreclosures come to McMansion country - (news.yahoo.com)
Ex-insider tells how subprime lenders spun out of control - (www.dallasnews.com)
WaMu to Get $7 Billion Infusion; Bank Slashes Dividend, Posts Loss – (www.ml-implode.com) - ``Washington Mutual Inc. Tuesday unveiled a deal to receive $7 billion from an investment group led by private-equity irm TPG a...


Other Stories:

DOW P/E Reaches Insane Heights - (www.ml-implode.com)
Who Would Have Thought? - (www.ml-implode.com) - “Clearly, the recession that hasn’t begun yet is over. At least, that’s what all the folks who never saw the recession coming, then decided we are going to have one, and who now say it’s over, believe. I know because I heard them say so on TV, time and again.”
Clif Droke: Now We Know the Real Reasons For the Credit "Crisis" - (www.safehaven.com)
Today's Housing Market Is a Real Fixer-Upper - (finance.yahoo.com)
Krugman: 40% or 50% declines - (latimesblogs.latimes.com)
Bear Stearns Customers Were Not at Risk - (www.hussman.net)
Food Additives Could Be as Damaging at Leaded Gas - (www.independent.co.uk)
IMF Says Financial, Economic Losses May Swell to $945 Billion - (www.bloomberg.com)
IMF to Sell 12.5% of Gold Stake - 403 Tons! - (www.marketwatch.com)
Over the Top Fed Actions Feed Conspiracy Thinking - (www.alternet.org)
Asian Inflation Begins to Sting US Consumers - (www.nytimes.com)
Jim Rogers: The Failure of the Federal Reserve - (www.moneymorning.com)
A closer look at the ARM reset problem - (www.seekingalpha.com)
Mortgage lenders prepare for the worst - (www.independent.co.uk)
How Many Foreclosures in Palo Alto, 1 or 74? - (patrick.net)
Our housing-bubble hangover - (articles.moneycentral.msn.com)
House is where the heartache lies - (business.smh.com.au)
Corporate Distressed Debt Levels Rise to Five Year Peak - (us.ft.com)
Natural Gas Run on in Pennsylvania - (www.nytimes.com)
WSJ: Detroit Sets Bold Goal: Exporting U.S. Cars - (online.wsj.com)
How to survive the Great Depression of 2008 - 2009 - (www.politicalgateway.com)
Bernanke's solutions worse than the problem - (www.informationclearinghouse.info)
Congress' proposals favor lenders and builders more than owners - (www.buffalonews.com)
Credit bubble deregulation gone wild - (www.seekingalpha.com)

Greenspan Says Current Credit Crisis Is Worst in at Least Half a Century - (www.bloomberg.com)
Borrowing Slows Down - (www.nytimes.com)
Asian Inflation Begins to Sting U.S. Shoppers - (www.nytimes.com)
A buck that can't be passed - (www.iht.com)

Hedge funds lose more ground in March -- data - (www.reuters.com)
Distressed debt levels rise to five-year peak - (www.ft.com)
IMF Says Financial, Economic Losses May Swell to $945 Billion - (www.bloomberg.com)
Simons, Mandel Post Biggest Drop in Hedge Fund Slump - (www.bloomberg.com)
Hedge funds face tougher times - (www.iht.com)
IMF to sell 12.5% of gold stake, worth more than $13 billion - (www.marketwatch.com)

Alcoa says energy costs, weak dollar hurt profit - (www.latimes.com)
AMD to cut 10% of workforce - (www.latimes.com)
Detroit's Bold Goal: Exporting Cars - (online.wsj.com)
Audit Panels Face Reckoning In Credit Mess - (online.wsj.com)
United Rentals's ex-CFO Indicted - (www.cfo.com)

U.K. House Prices Fall the Most Since 1992, HBOS Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
New Zealand Business Confidence Plummets to 33-Year Low on Falling Sales - (www.bloomberg.com)
As Price of Lead Soars, British Churches Find Holes in Roof - (www.nytimes.com)