Saturday December 20 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

Real-Estate Recovery to Start by Spring: Zell - (www.cnbc.com) Funny, but this is the same clown that bankrupted the Tribune Company. Why does anyone listen to Sam Zell? revival in the U.S. real estate market, key to a recovery in the world economy, should begin by next spring, property mogul Sam Zell told an Israeli business conference on Sunday. "I believe that in a country that continues to grow and where the population continues to grow, we will see the first signs of equilibrium in the housing market in the spring of 2009 and I will expect by spring 2010 the housing market in the U.S. will look a lot better," Zell said. Zell is the owner of Tribune Co, publisher of the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week.

Blank Check for Banks, Pink Slips for Detroit - (www.nytimes.com) HERE in Bailout Nation, you’ll be surprised to learn, some of us are more equal than others. Witness the Congressional back of the hand delivered last Thursday to Detroit automakers. Chrysler and General Motors were asking for $14 billion to see them through the end of the year; the Senate said no. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who leads the Senate Republicans, opposed the rescue. “None of us want to see them go down, but very few of us had anything to do with the dilemma that they have created for themselves,” he said. “We simply cannot ask the American taxpayer to subsidize failure.” That’s a new concept — not asking the taxpayer to subsidize failure. Is that not what we just did with the banks, to the tune of $700 billion, 50 times what the beleaguered carmakers asked for? Moreover, in the bank rescue, taxpayers are subsidizing not only failure but also outright recklessness and greed. In spite of the fact that financial institutions drove the nation into the economic ditch, and even though “very few of us had anything to do with the dilemma that they have created for themselves,” the financial industry received billions, with few strings attached.

Global car crisis far from over, executives say - (www.reuters.com) Top European car makers warned of a bleak 2009 as signs grew the deep crisis in the auto sector went far beyond the U.S. industry's life-or-death struggle. The heads of Renault-Nissan and Fiat said the car market would decline further next year after steep sales drops pushed the U.S. Big Three to ask for the bailout that was rejected by Congress and prompted White House action. The world's largest carmaker Toyota Motor Corp was set to report a loss of about 100 billion yen ($1.11 billion) for October-March, according to Japanese media on Saturday, and is expected to cut its earnings forecast again. German premium car maker BMW, which also sells Mini cars and Rolls-Royce limousines, is putting up financial aid to its German dealer network for at least 100 million euros ($132.7 million), according to WirtschaftWoche weekly.

S.F. feels the pain of real estate meltdown - (www.sfgate.com) San Francisco's real estate industry might be happier to bid farewell to this year if next year offered the hope of anything better. It doesn't. Instead, executives at the helms of the city's biggest brokerages say they're preparing for an unpleasant and unprofitable 2009, although it may turn out to be the best year that buyers have seen in more than a decade. "When we get to the end of 2009, I'll have a smile on my face," said Bill Drypolcher, owner and founder of San Francisco's Zephyr Real Estate. "I don't know if I'll have any money in my pocket, but I'll have a smile on my face." The downturn that slammed other parts of the Bay Area and the rest of the country didn't really begin inflicting serious pain on San Francisco until the second half of this year, real estate experts said. And while no one expects San Francisco to see the kind of foreclosures and bank sales that have become common in the East Bay, the city's real estate market is clearly suffering. "San Francisco had managed to fool itself through most of 2008 into thinking that it wasn't going to suffer the same sort of issues that have hurt other places in the state," said Christopher Thornberg, an economist with the consulting firm Beacon Economics. "The last four or five months of the year, San Francisco has seen price declines that have been quite prominent. You can't have prices fall as much as they have across the bay without some impact on San Francisco itself."

Nascar’s Sponsors, Hit by Sticker Shock - (www.nytimes.com) But in an office inside the racetrack, the scene was far from celebratory. Executives of the Big Three Detroit automakers told Brian France, the Nascar chief executive and chairman, that they planned to cut their investments in the sport sharply in the 2009 racing season. Since then, Chevrolet has said it is cutting back on advertising and sponsorship deals with 12 tracks. Ford is trimming Nascar spending by 20 percent, and Chrysler by 30 percent. The economic crisis is hitting industries around the globe, and the pain is beginning to filter down into professional sports. Many sports may face smaller crowds and shrinking player salaries, with, of course, exceptions for stars like the Yankees pitcher C. C. Sabathia. General Motors said in September that it wouldn’t buy any advertising time for the Super Bowl in February; earlier this year, it withdrew Cadillac’s sponsorship of the Masters golf tournament. It has also terminated its $7 million-a-year endorsement deal with Tiger Woods.

Home buyers look for their own bailout with a 4.5% mortgage rate - (www.latimes.com) Reporting from Washington -- Could a 4.5% mortgage be your personal piece of the bailout pie? Apparently many consumers thought precisely that the week after hearing that the Treasury Department was working on plans to slash loan rates for consumers who buy houses in the coming months. The news threw a wrench into the marketplace -- making some shoppers reluctant to commit to purchase without guaranteed access to 4.5% mortgage money. In some cases, it stalled deals that were ready to go. "It put us into limbo," said Dennis Badagliacco, chief executive of Altera Real Estate, a brokerage firm in San Jose. "Once [news] leaked out, it immediately slowed down" the pace of sales contracts and discussions, he said -- an ironic side effect of a plan ultimately meant to stimulate real estate transactions. Customers didn't want to gamble that they'd be locked into a 5.5% mortgage when 4.5% financing might be readily available if they simply waited a week or two, Badagliacco said.

Lawyer Seen as Bold Enough to Cheat the Best Investors - (www.nytimes.com) Marc S. Dreier knew the 45th-floor conference room of Solow Realty well. He had been in it many times as a trusted lawyer for the company’s founder. So nothing seemed amiss when he showed up one afternoon in October and told a receptionist he had a meeting with her boss, people associated with Solow say. Mr. Dreier was elegantly dressed, as always, the people said. He had three people with him. The receptionist ushered the group past her desk. They were sitting there, visible inside the glass-walled room, a few minutes later when the boss, Steven M. Cherniak, happened to walk by. Mr. Cherniak would later tell people at the company how surprised he had been to see Mr. Dreier. He had not scheduled any meeting with him, and he had no idea what Mr. Dreier was up to. But people there gave little thought to Mr. Dreier’s odd visit until November, when the company’s founder, Sheldon H. Solow, received a disturbing call. The caller wanted to let Mr. Solow know that Mr. Dreier had offered him the chance to buy promissory notes that had been issued by the company, people associated with the firm said. They were fake notes, and shortly thereafter, lawyers for Solow Realty — different lawyers — were in touch with federal authorities, reporting their suspicions that Mr. Dreier might be engaged in financial fraud. Since that opening tip, federal authorities have been tracking what they describe as a brazen swindle of some of New York’s savviest investors by one of New York’s more accomplished lawyers. Mr. Dreier has been charged with multiple frauds in the United States and a related crime in Canada, and is being held without bail in Manhattan. In court last week, prosecutors said their count so far put the money missing at $380 million, most of it lost by hedge funds and other investors who had bought promissory notes that were flat-out fictions.

Dubai shares hit despite promises - (news.bbc.co.uk) Dubai's stock market has fallen 5% to the lowest in four years, despite the emirate's efforts to assure investors that it can meet debt obligations. The head of Dubai's economic taskforce, Mohammed al-Abbar, said the government owed $10bn (£6.6bn), while state-affiliated firms were $70bn in debt. However, he said both the government and state companies had assets worth much more than their debts.
Dubai's government recently bailed out two lenders hit by the credit crisis. "We are rationalising our expenditure and consolidating our activities", said Mohammed al-Abbar.




OTHER STORIES:

Bush Postpones Decision on TARP for Auto Makers - (www.cnbc.com)
Fed Expected to Drop Interest Rates Close to Zero - (www.cnbc.com)
Why the Fed May Cut Rates Less Than Investors Expect - (www.cnbc.com)
Blagojevich May Resign Monday: Illinois Officials - (www.cnbc.com)

Before the Fear, There Was Foolishness - (www.nytimes.com) Misinformed and moronic Ben Stein writing a story way after the issue became a crisis. Before the credit crisis, lenders lent with unimaginable foolishness and made incredibly risky bets. And the bets busted.
Measuring the Shock Waves in Bond Funds - (www.nytimes.com) Many middle-of-the-road bond mutual funds that seemed to promise stable returns in a difficult market have recently taken gut-wrenching plunges.
Wait. Why Is the F.T.C. After Whole Foods? - (www.nytimes.com) The Federal Trade Commission once feared Whole Foods would dominate the market for organics. Now, that looks unlikely.
The Divorced Find a Housing Niche - (www.nytimes.com) New complexes offer tenants the ability to sign a lease for any time period 30 days

Homeowners have the power to stop special assessments - (www.latimes.com) A board cannot override a vote of owners by simply declaring an emergency.
Mortgage-broker business falls to new low - (www.ml-implode.com) - Loan brokers accounted for 18.9% of all mortgages funded in the third quarter, the lowest since at least the late 1990s, according to a survey by National Mortgage News.
The decline fits with news that several large banks and thrifts have stopped working with brokers, especially on alternative mortgages
Madoff Victims’ ‘Tragedy’ Said to Have Escaped Scrutiny by SEC - (www.bloomberg.com)
The Man Who Is Unwinding Lehman Brothers - (www.nytimes.com)
List of potential victims grows in NY fraud case - (finance.yahoo.com/news)
Geneva banks lost more than $4 billon to Madoff: report - (www.reuters.com)
China to increase supply of money to boost economy - (finance.yahoo.com/news)
Report: Saudi's Prince Alwaleed lost $4B this year - (finance.yahoo.com/news)
White House Ready to Aid Auto Industry - (www.nytimes.com)

Sharp mulls LCD factory cutbacks - (news.bbc.co.uk)
China inflation eases in November - (news.bbc.co.uk)
Russia confirms recession to come - (news.bbc.co.uk)
Pound in another record euro low - (news.bbc.co.uk)
Oil prices rise on growth hopes - (news.bbc.co.uk)
Slump hits India's car industry - (news.bbc.co.uk)
India unveils $4bn stimulus plan - (news.bbc.co.uk)

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)

Thursday April 10 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Bond insurance downgrades trigger possible bankruptcy of AL county - (www.al.com)
Glut of Unsold Housing in Santa Clara County -- Proof - (patrick.net) – Great photo with Google Maps proof that realtor signs are not faked
Goldman Sachs Level 3 Assets Jump, Exceeding Rivals' - (www.bloomberg.com)
Ex-owners trash foreclosed houses before leaving - (www.sun-sentinel.com)
Congress' latest dumb idea to fix the housing crisis - (www.slate.com)
White House says can't support Senate housing bill - (www.reuters.com)
The Great Dumbing Down of the Market - (www.ml-implode.com) - We have been talking about this for six months, but there seems to be a refusal on the part of many observers to accept that the...
Who Will Bail Out the FED? - (www.ml-implode.com) - 'The Fed bankers, whose progenitors have already bribed our Congress to un-constitutionally turn over Congress' exclusive power ...
Chances of Homeowner Relief Losing Momentum in Senate - (www.nytimes.com)
Dear Mr. Greenspan: You played a part in this mess - (www.financialweek.com)
Greenspan: Not My Fault - (biz.yahoo.com)
Citigroup, Wells Fargo May Loan Less After Downgrades - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.K. Consumer Confidence Falls to Lowest Since 2004 - (www.bloomberg.com)
Media Missed Details of WaMu Story - (www.ml-implode.com) - On Tuesday, the knights of the business keyboards rang in with thoughts on Washington Mutual's deal, singing its praises. But t...
Australian Consumer Confidence Slumps to 15-Year Low - (www.bloomberg.com)
Looming Deficit Impedes Federal Housing Agency - (www.nytimes.com)
Americans doubt ability to fund retirement - (money.cnn.com)
Economic slowdown hits Silicon Valley - (www.iht.com)


Other Stories:

The futile $100M foreclosure fix - (www.ml-implode.com)
Banks Rein in Lending Ahead of Slowdown - (www.ml-implode.com)
IMF bites the bullet as crisis deepens - (www.ml-implode.com)

Roubini Now Says House Prices to Fall 30% - (www.seekingalpha.com)
Fed Weighs Its Options in Easing Crunch - (online.wsj.com)
Bush to Expand Help on Mortgages - (online.wsj.com)
For Many, a Boom That Wasn’t - (www.nytimes.com)
Ex-Fed Chairman Chides Current One - (www.nytimes.com)
Fed looking at how to beef up lending power: report - (www.reuters.com)
Long commutes, gas prices crimping American Dream - (www.philly.com)
Fed members worried about deep recession - (www.ap.com)
Gains in Worker Productivity Slow - (online.wsj.com)
Mortgage Application Volume Rises - (www.ap.com)
Middle Class Feeling The Financial Squeeze - (www.cbsnews.com)
IPO for Apollo Management - (online.wsj.com)
NYSE Volume Drops to `08 Low as Traders `Wait and See' Profits - (www.bloomberg.com)

Boeing Delays 787 Again to Third Quarter of 2009 - (www.bloomberg.com)
UPS cuts outlook, blaming fuel - (money.cnn.com)
CBS layoffs signal a financial squeeze on TV stations - (www.latimes.com)
Retailers' Struggles Mean Lean Times at the Mall - (online.wsj.com)
GE consumer finance unit gives up on U.S. consumer - (www.financialweek.com)
For Pilots, Dreams Run Into Reality - (www.nytimes.com)
American Airlines cancels 1,000 flights - (www.ft.com)
Off-balance sheet rules 'irretrievably broken' - (www.ft.com)
Arctic Cat warning of diminished earnings - (www.startribune.com)
Rising currency squeezes exporters in China - (www.latimes.com)
Egypt's Soaring Food Prices Bring Bread Lines, Deficit Pressure - (www.bloomberg.com)
IMF Puts Cost of Crisis Near $1 Trillion - (www.washingtonpost.com)

Of course it's Greenspan's fault - (www.iht.com)
Used-house sales falls to record low - (biz.yahoo.com)
Credit crunch costs '$1 trillion' - (news.bbc.co.uk)
IMF: Financial crisis costs will near $1 trillion - (www.telegraph.co.uk)
Property Tax Delinquency In Central Valley - (media.modbee.com)
Track the NAR's Spin and Lies - (bp0.blogger.com)
Hooverizing the Housing Bubble - (patrick.net)
UK House Prices Plunge Over the Cliff - (www.marketoracle.co.uk)
Bigger Bubbles To Pop - (greatdepression2006.blogspot.com)

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)

Tuesday April 8 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Market slump makes divorce more difficult - (www.sfgate.com)
"Stated income" loans should be reported to IRS - (market-ticker.denninger.net) – Pretty radical concept
Crude Oil Rises More Than $2 as Gasoline Surges to a Record - (www.bloomberg.com)
Lenders retreat as housing market plummets - (www.sfgate.com)
Rice Run Prompts Curbs to Rival Credit Market Seizure - (www.bloomberg.com) - Rice, the staple food for half the world, rose 2.4 percent to a record $21 per 100 pounds in Chicago today, double the price a year ago and a fivefold increase from 2001.
As standards tighten, borrowers face equity credit roadblock - (www.projo.com)
Biggest bond insurer loses AAA rating - (www.bloomberg.com)
Foreclosures come to McMansion country - (www.ml-implode.com) – The crisis has hit especially hard here in Loudoun County, Virginia, where upscale developments have supplanted horse farms over the past fifteen years.... Now the bill has come due. One out of every 69 households in the county was in foreclosure in the last three months of 2008. Yes, most people eventually get what they deserve and in this case
Good time to buy? Only if you believe your own lies. - (www.builderonline.com)
The Mortgage Bust Goes Global - (www.nytimes.com)
Stymied house sellers slashing prices - (www.palmbeachpost.com)
Soros predicts end of the road for cheap borrowing - (www.independent.co.uk)
Foreclosures leave Clearwater's Island Estates residents disenchanted - (www.ml-implode.com) - 'Sale prices on the island averaged $1.25-million two years ago. Among the homes under contract this month, the average price is...
The Assassination of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer - [2008-04-07] - Like an Iceberg. Just a bunch of crap from some Spitzer defenders.
Housing Bubble Bursts Wide Open In Spain - (www.ml-implode.com)
Nine Mortgage Servicers Sign Pact to Help Ohio Homeowners - (www.ml-implode.com) - 'Ohio Governor Ted Strickland announced today that nine mortgage loan servicers have signed the “Compact to Help Ohioans Preserve Homeownership,” a pledge to work with the state to stem a rise in foreclosures.' Yes, another idiotic government program that will fail.


Other Stories:

Which Traders Scored Big Betting Against Housing? - (www.ml-implode.com) 'John Paulson, who ran a medium-sized fund until last year, zoomed to the top of the industry's earnings table when he took home...
And ... it's a hat trick - (www.ml-implode.com)
Hemingway haunt gives discounts to "poor Americans" - (www.ml-implode.com)
More than 14,000 Mortgage Layoffs in First Quarter - (www.ml-implode.com)
FDIC chief: We could do more - (www.ml-implode.com)
Deposed, not composed. - (www.ml-implode.com)
Wild, Wild West: California Cold To 'Jumbo Conforming' Loans - (www.ml-implode.com)

Shallowness of pro-housing arguments - (www.nytimes.com)
Housing and Ponzi Units - (optionarmageddon.blogspot.com)
Two Wrongs Make A Wrong - (great graphics!) - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com)

Advanced Micro Sales Miss Forecast; Job Cuts Planned - (www.bloomberg.com)
Alcoa Says Profit Falls 54% as Energy Costs Rise - (www.bloomberg.com)
Housing Bust Duration - (calculatedrisk.blogspot.com)
Reverse Ripple Theory of Metropolitan Price Corrections - (www.seekingalpha.com)
Bankruptcies Jump 30% in March, Led by Housing-Bust States - (www.bloomberg.com)
Treasuries Fall as Confidence Grows Fed Steps to Limit Slowdown - (www.bloomberg.com)
Credit Cost Hikes Know No Boundaries - (www.cfo.com)
Consumer credit rose $5.16 bln in February - (www.reuters.com)

Auction-Rate Collapse Quadruples Expenses for Bond Alternatives - (www.bloomberg.com)
Shareholders get more involved - (www.cfo.com)
Mortgages: Is the wound fatal this time? - (www.ocregister.com)
Soros Says Deregulation Created Super-Bubble - (www.bloomberg.com)
Borrowers Default On Mortgage, Lenders Let Them Stay Free! - (www.bloomberg.com)
Don't shift mortgage burden to taxpayers - (www.detnews.com)
The problem is unimaginably, indescribably big - (www.jamaica-gleaner.com)
Across the Globe, Hints of More Perils in Housing - (www.nytimes.com)

Washington Mutual to receive $5 bln from TPG, others - report - (money.cnn.com)
Losing Leverage: Some Firms Cut Debt in This Uncertain Era - (online.wsj.com)
Builders' Rally Masks Lingering Questions - (www.thestreet.com)
Idle cars signal a downturn - (www.latimes.com)
More layoffs expected in construction, real estate - (www.ajc.com)
Hard times hit U.S. hardwood lumber industry - (www.ap.com)
Surging renminbi - (www.ft.com)
Europeans Target Inflation, not Slowdown - (www.cfo.com)
Shirakawa Is Nominated to Lead Japan's Central Bank - (www.bloomberg.com)
Eastern Europe Boom May Prove Bust Amid Labor Dearth - (www.bloomberg.com)
US policymakers could learn from ECB - (www.ft.com)