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)

Tuesday April 15 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Terrified Fannie "warns" housedebtors who walk away - (www.sfgate.com) – On March 31, Fannie Mae sent out new guidelines to lenders intended for walkaways and other foreclosure situations. Fannie will now prohibit foreclosed borrowers from getting another mortgage through the giant investor for five years, unless there are "documented extenuating circumstances." In those cases, the mortgage prohibition is for three years.
You Thought You Had an Equity Line - (www.nytimes.com)
Continental, United Could Merge 'Pretty Quickly': Source - (www.cnbc.com)
Continental Airlines and United Airlines have laid most of the groundwork for a merger, sources said, and could have a deal ready if Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines announce a tie-up.
Sinking housing market maroons houseowners - (www.insidebayarea.com) – Homes are supposed to be more than 1-2 year investments so homeowners “should” be marooned in their homes.
What is Paulson Smoking? "IRS's $600 Stimulus Checks Will Add 500,000 - 600,000 Jobs to Economy." - (www.nytimes.com)
Restaurants Find Diners Choosing Cheaper Fare - (www.boston.com)
Jury Says Realtor Not to Blame for Purchase Price - (www.voiceofsandiego.org) – For once I agree, it is about time the home-purchasers take some blame here for their greed and stupidity instead of blaming everyone else.
New loan changes bring no relief - (www.sfgate.com)
Walking Away From Your Mortgage - (www.ml-implode.com) – The San Francisco Chronicle reported the threat by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac 'to make anyone thinking about joining the growing "walkaway" trend,..., feel the pain'. Here are some good observations on the subject on minyanville.com
Biofuels Nothing Short of a Disaster - (www.canada.com)
No-down-payment mortgages are gone - (www.marketwatch.com)
‘Tranche warfare’ breaks out over CDOs - (www.ft.com)
Assets seized to halt payment to others - 18:45
Did appraisers juice Florida real-estate market? - (www.orlandosentinel.com) – Yes, but so did the banks, realtors, homeowners and everyone else. They all participated on the way up and are now blaming each other on the way down.
Stresses on Fannie, Freddie pose wider risks - (www.ml-implode.com) - 'A deep recession could force mortgage-finance titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to require a federal bailout large enough to hurt the U.S. government's top-grade credit rating, Standard & Poor's warned Monday.'
Banks Must Write Down Loans to Prevent a Mass Homeowner Exodus - (www.ml-implode.com) - The word is out and the banks and servicers need to get a clue. People are walking from their underwater homes in droves. Wha...
John Rubino: America, Ex-Distortion - (www.dollarcollapse.com) – Key paragraphs below:
"Almost four decades have passed since the United States scrapped its last currency ties to precious metals. Our copper and nickel coinage still retains some metallic value, but not nearly enough for the purpose of currency tampering--the historic temptation of inflation-plagued or otherwise wayward governments, including, at times, our own. Instead, since the 1960s, Washington has been forced to gull its citizens and creditors by debasing official statistics: the vital instruments with which the vigor and muscle of the American economy are measured. The effect, over the past twenty-five years, has been to create a false sense of economic achievement and rectitude, allowing us to maintain artificially low interest rates, massive government borrowing, and a dangerous reliance on mortgage and financial debt even as real economic growth has been slower than claimed. If Washington’s harping on weapons of mass destruction was essential to buoy public support for the invasion of Iraq, the use of deceptive statistics has played its own vital role in convincing many Americans that the U.S. economy is stronger, fairer, more productive, more dominant, and richer with opportunity than it actually is."


Other Stories:

Nationalization or monetization? - (www.ml-implode.com) - 'Fortunately, given the rate at which home prices are now declining in many parts of the country, any government action in suppo...
Mortgage payments worry many - (www.ml-implode.com) - 'In an ominous snapshot of how the sagging real estate market and sour economy are intersecting, the Associated Press-AOL Money ...
Accounting failures enter the subprime equation - (www.ml-implode.com) - As homeowners, shareholders and federal investigators pick through the subprime wreckage, many have asked how effectively fro...
Bank denies cash-raising reports - (www.ml-implode.com)
Phoenix Median Home Price Down A “Stable” 17% In March - (www.ml-implode.com)
Many skeptical of Foreclosure Protection Act - (www.ml-implode.com)

Credit Crisis Could Affect Markets for Decade: Study - (www.cnbc.com)
Citi allows loan ‘cherry picking’ - (www.ft.com)
Move could complicate balance sheet clean-up - 23:22
Inflation takes bite out of paychecks: Fed's Fault - (www.idahostatesman.com)
Blunt former Fed chairman Volcker takes on Bernanke - (www.theglobeandmail.com)
A Tale of Two Coasts - (www.seekingalpha.com)
Price boom redistributes wealth destructively - (www.independent.co.uk)
California Mortgage Rates Still High - (www.mybudget360.com)
Stocks Brace for Flood of Earnings - (www.marketwatch.com)
Congress study: Housing aid wouldn't help economy - (news.yahoo.com)
'Subprime Relief Plan' May Make a Bad Situation Worse - (www.seekingalpha.com)
US Housing Woes Spread Around the Globe - (www.nytimes.com)
CitiGroup, Merrill Reveal Fresh $15B Losses - (business.timesonline.co.uk)
Oil, Gasoline Close at Records on Dollar Weakness Against Euro - (www.bloomberg.com)
Stocks Close Down Amid Earnings Concerns - (www.ap.com)
Against a housing bailout: let the prices fall! - (www.walletpop.com)
Shiller: Housing Will Continue to Fall - (www.seekingalpha.com)
Pending sales index points to declines ahead - (www.businessweek.com)

U.S. Retail Sales Rise on Gain in Gasoline Purchases - (www.bloomberg.com)
The consumer spending mirage - (www.businessweek.com)
Phoenix job growth slows - (www.azcentral.com)
As Greenspan’s reputation sinks, Volcker’s rises - (www.ap.com)
Atlanta gas prices hit new high of $3.36 per gallon - (www.ajc.com)
Schools Get A Lesson in Lunch Line Economics - (www.nytimes.com)
The Meltdown Lowdown - (www.prospect.org)
Gold as an investment - (en.wikipedia.org)
Is A House Really A Good Investment? - (cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com)

Goldman Strategists Say U.S. Earnings Are `Awful' - (www.bloomberg.com)
Is Street Turmoil Coloring Art Market? - (online.wsj.com)
Record grain prices provide food for thought - (www.ft.com)
Nothing Special With Treasuries as Fed Has Mortgages - (www.bloomberg.com)
IRS audits of largest corporations declining - (www.ajc.com)

Wachovia Posts Loss, Plans $7 Billion Capital Raising - (www.bloomberg.com)
Northwest, Delta near merger deal - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Newspaper Vendors Worry About Downturn - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Ex-Commerce Chief down on big banks - (www.nypost.com)
Housing Woes in U.S. Spread Around Globe - (www.nytimes.com)