Tuesday July 1 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories: Do these look like healthy bank/lender stock charts? (click on chart for larger view)

Ron Paul on Federal Reserve and Inflation - (www.youtube.com) New Ron Paul video from 6/25/08 on Fed Reserve meeting results.

Is IndyMac on the verge of Bankruptcy? Stock falls below $1 after being hit with a run on the bank on Saturday
· After some depositors pull funds, IndyMac responds to latest rumors about its health; says it's working with regulators - (latimesblogs.latimes.com) Pasadena-based mortgage lender IndyMac Bancorp, battling fresh rumors that it is near collapse, conceded today that its financial position "has deteriorated since last quarter," and said it was working on a plan with its regulators to improve "the safety and soundness" of the bank.
· Late Day Update: Indymac Closes Commercial Unit, Depositors Withdrawing Funds - (www.ml-implode.com) - At 5:45 pm (EST), the following email was sent to customers of Indymac's commercial lending unit, Indymac Commercial Lending Corp.:
"ICLC, due to the current market and capital constraints has ceased lending operations as of 7/1/08. A formal announcement from ICLC will be coming out tomorrow regarding details and loans in process." Referring to today's press release on The IMB Report, Indymac's company web site, an LA Times report refers to "a weekend that saw depositors line up at some of its San Gabriel Valley branches to pull their money, as they reacted to news reports questioning the company's survival." Indymac's article responds with "while branch traffic is somewhat elevated this morning, it is substantially lower than on Saturday, and we are hopeful that this issue appropriately abates soon..."
· Schumer: concerned over IndyMac stability - (www.ap.com)
· [$$] Schumer Asks Regulators For Greater IndyMac Scrutinyat - (us.rd.yahoo.com/finance/external/wsj)
· CRL: Indymac Dug Its Own Grave - (www.thetruthaboutmortgage.com) - The Center for Responsible Lending has impeccable timing, considering the fact that Indymac is trading at its lowest point ever amid mounting solvency concerns.The group released a 22-page report today outlining the Pasadena, CA-based mortgage lender’s failings, accusing the company of “unsound and abusive lending” during the recent boom. The report includes interviews with former employees, which among other things, claim Indymac padded borrower income, used bogus appraisals, worked with misleading mortgage brokers, and treated minorities and the elderly unfairly.
· IndyMac Update: Shares Down On More Bad News - (www.ml-implode.com)


Will Lehman Brothers suffer the same fate as Bear Stearns? It will likely (within next month) be bailed out by the Fed or Barclays
· Lehman falls on talk of possible sale to Barclays - (www.ap.com) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. shares fell sharply (over $2.4/share) Monday amid speculation that the nation's fourth-largest investment bank might be acquired by Britain's Barclays PLC at a discount price.
· Lehman up after Morgan Stanley's overweight rating - (www.reuters.com) – Yet Morgan Stanley changes rating to “overweight”. We should know in less than a month if MS was unethically trying to protect their interest or if Lehman gets acquired at $31/share.
· [$$] Lehman Hits Lowest Level Since 2000 Amid Buzz - (us.rd.yahoo.com/finance/external/wsj)









And how about Wachovia. Prediction is Wachovia will be acquired (or liquidated) in the next 2 months:
· Wachovia Drops On News of Possible $5 Billion Buyback - (www.bloomberg.com) Wachovia Corp., the fourth-largest U.S. bank, fell the most in two months after the New York Post said the company may have to buy back Prudential Financial Inc.'s stake in their joint retail brokerage venture.
· Wachovia halts mortgages with negative amortization featuresat MarketWatch(Mon 5:28pm) – (www.marketwatch.com)
· Wachovia eliminates pick-a-pay loansat bizjournals.com(Mon 5:25pm) – (www.bizjournals.com)
· ALERT! Wachovia Cries ‘UNCLE’ on the Pay Option ARM - (www.ml-implode.com)

Court Ruling Could Shock Entire U.S. Mortgage Industry - (www.ml-implode.com) - A lawsuit filed by a Wisconsin couple against their mortgage lender could have major implications for banks should a U.S. appeals court agree that borrowers can cancel their loans en masse when their lenders violate a federal lending disclosure law.
BIS slams central banks, warns of worse crunch to come - (www.telegraph.co.uk) A year ago, the Bank for International Settlements startled the financial world by warning that we might soon face challenges last seen during the onset of the Great Depression. This has proved frighteningly accurate. The venerable body, the ultimate bank of central bankers, said years of loose monetary policy had fuelled a dangerous credit bubble that would entail "much higher costs than is commonly supposed". In a pointed attack on the US Federal Reserve, it said central banks would not find it easy to "clean up" once property bubbles have burst. If only we had all listened to the BIS a long time ago. Ensconced in its Swiss lair, it has fired off anathemas for years, struggling to uphold orthodoxy against the follies of modern central banking. Bill White, the departing chief economist, has now penned his swansong, the BIS's 78th Annual Report, released today. It is a disconcerting read for those who want to hope the global crisis is over. "The current market turmoil is without precedent in the postwar period. With a significant risk of recession in the US, compounded by sharply rising inflation in many countries, fears are building that the global economy might be at some kind of tipping point," it said. "These fears are not groundless. The magnitude of the problems yet to be faced could be much greater than many now perceive," it said. "It is not impossible that the unwinding of the credit bubble could, after a temporary period of higher inflation, culminate in a deflation that might be hard to manage, all the more so given the high debt levels."
Next Victim of Real Estate Bubble: Government - (www.businessweek.com) - State and local governments were flush with tax revenue during the five-year housing boom. They pulled from bulging pools of property, income, and sales tax to expand education, law enforcement, health care, and infrastructure programs without needing to burden residents and corporations with tax hikes. Those days are over. Home prices are falling, and foreclosures, gas prices, unemployment, and inflation are on the rise. At least 29 states, plus the District of Columbia, reported budget shortfalls that total about $48 billion as they finalized their 2009 fiscal budgets, which typically begin July 1, according to the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities.
Credit crisis fallout to limit houseowner spending - (www.reuters.com) "(U.S.) household spending now seems likely to weaken in response to high debt and service burdens, falling employment and the general tightening of credit conditions," it said.
A growing trend of negative equity -- where falling house prices leave homeowners with a mortgage bigger than their property's value -- is also expected to corset the borrowing ability of U.S. households. In some parts of the United States, houses have halved in value over the last two years as the property bubble has popped and mortgage defaults surge while builders flood already saturated markets with new properties. "As housing prices fall and credit conditions tighten, (more) such loans are likely to default because borrowers have few alternative financial resources," BIS said.
The Greenspan Gamble - (www.rgemonitor.com) it appears to me that the "Super Fed" could actually happen. Many of the other changes require consolidation of regulatory agencies, and bureaucracies seldom go gently into that good night. They and their constituents will fight for survival and probably win. But the Fed expansion is likely to be seen as the solution the problem of risk that the housing bust has made apparent. But wait. Isn't this the same Fed whose 1 percent fed funds rate helped inflate the great Housing and Mortgage Bubble that is now popping? Didn't this lead to massive losses, illiquidity, and panic? Wasn't the bubble exactly the sort of systemic risk that the new, more powerful Fed is expected to effectively manage?



Other Stories:

Deflationary Hurricanes to Hit U.S. and U.K. - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com) British households are now more indebted than those of any other major country in recorded history, it has emerged. Families in the UK now owe a record 173pc of their incomes in debts, official figures have shown. The ratio of debt to income is higher than any other country in the Group of Seven leading industrialised economies, and is sharply higher than the 129pc of incomes it was five years ago.
OPEC pres sees oil at $170 this year, blames Fed - (www.marketwatch.com)
28 in Michigan Charged With Mortgage Fraud - (www.ml-implode.com)
The end of the superbubble - (articles.moneycentral.msn.com)
FL Joins List Of States Lining Up With Suits Against Countrywide - (www.ml-implode.com) - Florida sued mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp for predatory lending practices on Monday, alleging the company at the c...
Central Bank Schizophrenia - (www.ml-implode.com) - "What is Ben Bernanke to do? Since his job is simultaneously to avoid recession while protecting against inflation, and right no...
Is Any Company Safe from Subprime Related Lawsuits? - (www.ml-implode.com)
California Under Schwarzenegger Underperforms Davis Debt Burden - (www.bloomberg.com) As the most populous U.S. state, with a gross domestic product that's No. 8 in the world, California is so strapped for cash that it must consider a short-term, $10 billion loan to cover its bills. The widening deficit means the financing may be about 0.85 percentage point more expensive than five years ago, when Davis lost his job over a budget gap twice as large as the $17 billion deficit the state now faces. That's an added $8.5 million on every $1 billion borrowed.

Consumers fail to save despite the gloom - (www.ft.com)
Subprime, Alt-A Bonds to Extend Drop as Banks Retreat - (www.bloomberg.com)
Homeowners Fall Further Behind on Mortgage Payments, Group Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
Engineering the Housing Bubble Through Monthly Payments - (mrmortgage.ml-implode.com)
Lenders create a bankruptcy monster - (articles.moneycentral.msn.com)
Crash not be an altogether bad thing - (www.atimes.com)
Lehman Selling Archstone - (patrick.net)
Second-Largest New England City Seeks Foreclosure Moratorium - (www.ml-implode.com)
Is Oil Having an Impact on Housing? Taking a Look at Los Angeles County - (www.ml-implode.com)
Mr Mortgage: Engineering the Housing Bubble Through Monthly Payments - (www.ml-implode.com)
Who owns my mortgage? - (msnbc.msn.com)
You ain't seen nothing yet - (www.informationclearinghouse.info)
Gloom and Doom? Nah; Just for the U.S. - (online.barrons.com)
One bullish American economist amid growling bears - (www.telegraph.co.uk)
Is Oil Impacting Housing? Look at Los Angeles County - (www.mybudget360.com)
Will the USA Invade Canada For Its Oil? - (www.sandersresearch.com)
Economist describes why inflation hits harder now - (www.marketwatch.com)

Hoarding Nations Drive Food Costs Ever Higher - (www.nytimes.com)
One Rebate Isn’t Enough - (www.nytimes.com) , Shiller
World needs tough monetary policy to tackle inflation - (www.reuters.com)
Northeast braces for home heating oil increases - (www.usatoday.com)

Banks seek market-based pricing scheme - (www.ft.com)
MBIA Has Sufficient Assets to Meet Collateral Call - (www.bloomberg.com)
Legg Mason Support for Money Funds to Cut Earnings by 64 Cents - (www.bloomberg.com)
Businesses Scramble To Offset Rising Cost Of Transportation - (online.wsj.com)
Small US banks feel the pinch - (www.ft.com)

European Prices Rise More Than Forecast as Oil Surges - (www.bloomberg.com)
China Stocks Fall; Benchmark Index Completes Worst Month Ever - (www.bloomberg.com)
Eurozone inflation jumps to 4% - (www.ft.com)

Thursday June 19 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

The Sad Tale of Chrysler's Impending Failure - (www.bloomberg.com) - With the company using this much cash and with high gasoline prices, Chrysler has months, not years, to establish alliances to get products it doesn't have,'' says John Casesa, managing partner of Casesa Shapiro Group, a New York-based consulting firm. ``The timeline has been shortened dramatically,'' says Casesa, who predicts Chrysler is unlikely to survive as a free-standing car company.
Morgan Stanley Warns of "Catastrophic Event" as ECB Fights Federal Reserve - (www.telegraph.co.uk)
Wooden Nickels and Steel Pennies - (www.mises.org) "Don't take any wooden nickels" was an admonition to be careful in your dealings because someone might try to pay you with worthless money. Wooden coins were actually used in trade in America in certain limited circumstances on a local level. A contemporary equivalent could be "don't take any steel pennies." The United States House Of Representatives has already passed a bill, HR 5512, authorizing the Treasury Department to substitute steel for the nickel and copper now used in American pennies and nickels. This is not the first time in history that the currency of a country has been debased. In centuries past, kings would debase gold and silver coins by reducing metal content, making smaller coins and actually replacing the original metals with cheaper alloys, while holding the legal-tender value the same. This gave rise to Gresham's Law, a principle in economics that bad money drives out good money. Consumers will use the devalued currency in transactions and take the more valuable money out of circulation. Since the establishment of the Federal Reserve, American coins have been debased numerous times, replacing more valuable metals with less valuable ones. The dollar, which was backed by gold decades ago, is now backed by nothing but legal-tender laws.
** Bloomberg: Fed's Bear Stearns Books Look Prime for Cooking ** - (www.bloomberg.com) The Federal Reserve is just days away from completing the financing for its bailout of Bear Stearns Cos., after which the central bank will have another big decision to make: how to account for it. Flip through the footnotes to the Fed's latest annual report, and you'll come across an open secret. The Fed doesn't follow normal accounting rules, as promulgated by any of the major standard-setting boards. Rather, the Fed writes its own, in a document called the Financial Accounting Manual for Federal Reserve Banks. If you ever wanted to design an accounting regime to help a bank cook its books, the Fed's would be perfect. This doesn't exactly inspire faith in the U.S. financial system, at a time when a good example might help a lot.
WaMu To Announce More Layoffs Thursday - (www.ml-implode.com) - Washington Mutual, battered by the nationwide housing downturn, is poised to announce another round of layoffs Thursday that wil...
MBIA Refuses to Downstream Cash, Uses CDS Fears to Defy Regulators - (www.ml-implode.com)
U.S. Senate to probe Countrywide loans - (www.ml-implode.com)
Wachovia to Borrower- “Are You Sure You Understand the Pay Option ARM?” - (www.ml-implode.com) Once the borrower gets a hard-recast letter saying “you have reached your maximum allowable negative amortization for this loan program, so now you must either a) refinance b) pay a minimum of interest only payments so as not to accrue any more negative amortization (this could double the payment)”, borrowers will default. First, you can’t refi in most cases. Second, why in the world would you want to pay twice the monthly payment for a home that has dropped 30% in value and where you have accrued 15 to 25% negative amortization depending on the lender? By the time they get this letter, a borrower could be upside down 50%!
Some buy new house to bail on the old - (www.pressdemocrat.com)
Housing woes hit community banks - (www.latimes.com)
Banker's lament: 'Nobody foresaw what would happen' - (latimesblogs.latimes.com) – Yes, and these are the morons that are paying each other so much money because they say they are so smart.


Other Stories:

Cerberus Rues Chrysler Drain as Nardelli Fails to Arrest Losses - (www.ml-implode.com) The worst U.S. housing crisis since the 1930s was spilling into car buying. Chrysler, which had survived past struggles thanks to a 1980 federal loan guarantee and Daimler-Benz AG's $36 billion purchase in 1998, needed to face reality and forget about making more cars.
Are You Covered if Your Broker Fails? - (www.investorbrain.com)
Recession fears after housing bubble burst - (msnbc.msn.com)
Is America's suburban dream collapsing into a nightmare? - (cnn.com)
What real estate experts aren't telling you - (www.businessreport.com)

Bush, McCain Push to End Offshore Drilling Ban - (www.bloomberg.com)
Obama's Veep - A Republican? - (www.salon.com)
So Cal median below $500,000, 1st time since '04 - (lansner.freedomblogging.com)
So. California house prices, sales plunged in May - (www.apnews.com)
How bad are Things Currently for California Housing? - (www.mybudget360.com)
Ross Perot is Back! With a New Website: Perot Charts - (www.perotcharts.com)
Detroit's Sinking Sales Take a Toll on Dealerships - (www.nytimes.com)
As Costs Rise, Vietnam Becomes the New China - (www.nytimes.com)
Discussion of The Bubble - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Gas prices latest worry for CA real estate market - (www.latimes.com)
Housing, Prices Signal "Some" Stagflation - (www.bloomberg.com)
Central Banks Clash Over Monetary Policy - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com)

Thinking About Installments - (www.baltimorechronicle.com)
When Should You Buy And When Is It Better to Rent? - (www.erica.biz)
Seven Indicted In Atlanta Mortgage Fraud Scam - (www.ml-implode.com) - Atlanta federal prosecutors have indicted seven metro Atlanta residents in alleged straw-buyer mortgage fraud scam, centered aro...
Homeowners Offered New Way to Tap House's Equity - (www.ml-implode.com) - "Mortgage rates remain near historic lows. So homeowners entering these deals might be establishing a low baseline for their hom...
Newest Addition to the Ailing/Watch List: American Sterling Bank - Wholesale - (www.ml-implode.com) - See our full report by following the link below.
Fuel Prices Driving Force Behind Foreclosures Down Under - (www.ml-implode.com) - Higher petrol prices could be the straw that breaks the backs of people struggling with their mortgages. Data released yesterd...
SEC Probes Sickly Thornburg - (www.ml-implode.com) - On Wednesday, Thornburg Mortgage revealed the Securities and Exchange Commission had subpoenaed documents on April 24 and May 23 involving the lender's restatement of its 2007 financial results and margin calls it has received; Thornburg said it is cooperating with the agency's probe
LONGEST FORECLOSURE CASE IN HISTORY GOES TO THE U.S. SUPREME COURT - (www.ml-implode.com)
Real Estate Slowdown - (www.ml-implode.com)
Mortgage Applications Drop as Rates Rise, Refis Dry Up - (www.ml-implode.com)
Pink Sheeted - (www.ml-implode.com)
What’s Old is New Again: HOPE NOW Touts Loss Mit Guidelines - (www.ml-implode.com)

U.S. Stocks Fall on FedEx's Loss, Fifth Third's Dividend Cut - (www.bloomberg.com)
Dollar May Fall for Fourth Day Before Report on Manufacturing - (www.bloomberg.com)
Bernanke May Regret Interest-Rate Cuts, Lawson Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
Floods Add Pressure on Gas Prices - (online.wsj.com)
Gym payments too big a stretch - (www.latimes.com)

MBIA Debt Is Setting Up a Quandary - (www.nytimes.com)
Guarantee Gamble: Developers Dread Return of Recourse - (online.wsj.com)
How rising home values, easy credit put your finances at risk - (www.usatoday.com)
Morgan Stanley Suspends Credit Trader on Valuations - (www.bloomberg.com)
Home prices continue downward spiral - (www.signonsandiego.com)
Morgan Stanley Profit Drops 57% on Debt Losses - (www.bloomberg.com)
FedEx Reports Loss on Fuel Costs, Kinko's Writedown - (www.bloomberg.com)
Lenders, trade groups complain that housing bill is too restrictive - (www.latimes.com)
Airlines face billions in losses, Senate panel told - (www.latimes.com)
Can Hershey Survive Candy Wars? - (online.wsj.com)
Fifth Third to Raise $2 Billion on Share, Asset Sales - (www.bloomberg.com)
Kellogg shrinks cereal boxes, not prices - (www.latimes.com)
Low sales force Ford to idle SUV plant for 9 weeks - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Wal-Mart trims spending on new stores - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Northwest Airlines announces larger capacity cuts - (www.chicagotribune.com)
OfficeMax eliminating 2,700 store positions - (www.chicagotribune.com)

As Chinese costs soar, manufacturers expand elsewhere in Asia - (www.iht.com)
Investors Seek Asian Options to Costly China - (www.nytimes.com)
BOJ Is Watching Growth, Inflation Risks, Minutes Show - (www.bloomberg.com)
Rising costs set manufacturers price dilemma - (www.ft.com)
Hot Money into China Hits New Record - (www.businessweek.com)
Globalized Inflation - (online.wsj.com)

Tuesday June 3 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Has Phase 2 of the Credit Crisis begun???:
Student Loans Start to Bypass 2-Year Colleges - (www.nytimes.com) – Credit crunch beginning to freeze loans for 2 year colleges and lower quality (perceived by lenders) 4 year colleges.
Wachovia Ousts Thompson on Writedowns, Share Plunge - (www.ml-implode.com) - Wachovia Corp. ousted Kennedy Thompson as chief executive officer of the fourth-largest U.S. bank after the board blamed him for...
Expect further declines in 2008 and into 2009 - (www.freddiemac.com) - While we expect to see further declines in average home values throughout this year and into 2009, we will be watching very carefully for signs of stabilization in indicators of real housing activity, such as a leveling off in home sales, now that the traditional home-buying season spanning late spring and early summer is underway
Liars Rejoice! Stated income cannot be used against you - (www.theconglomerate.org) - Judge Leslie Tchaikovsky, a bankruptcy judge in the Northern District of California, has issued a whopper of an opinion holding that a mortgage lender on a stated income loan is not entitled to rely on the "stated" income in the loan application for purposes of bankruptcy discharge.
Permabear Peter Schiff's Worst-Case Scenario - (www.usnews.com) – First off, the title is a bit unfair, as Peter was not a bear 12 years ago. He says “There's nothing good to say about our situation. The policies both the Fed and government are pursuing are making the situation worse. We've been getting a free ride on the global gravy train. Other countries are starting to reclaim their resources and goods, so as Americans are priced out of various markets, the rest of the world is going to enjoy the consumption of goods Americans had previously purchased. This is a natural consequence of this phony economy. If America had maintained a viable economy and continued to produce goods instead of merely consuming them, and if we had saved money instead of borrowing, our standard of living could rise with everybody else's. Instead, we gutted our manufacturing, let our infrastructure decay, and encouraged our citizens to borrow with reckless abandon.”
Price Erosion Hits the $5 Million-Plus Market - (finance.yahoo.com)
Moody's Implied Ratings Show MBIA, Ambac Are Junk - (www.bloomberg.com)
House of pain - (www.jsonline.com) - While earning $9.25 an hour, Medellin struggles to pay a $103,500 high-interest loan for an often-vandalized house on Milwaukee's north side. The city assessed the property at almost $40,000 less.
Next Housing Market to Crash? Seattle - (www.usnews.com)
SUV Owners Trash Vehicles, Turn in the Keys - (www.ml-implode.com)
Repackaged Mortgage Garbage Is Still Garbage - (www.ml-implode.com) - It's what financial engineering and securitization is all about: It's taking something nobody wants and creating something people will want, be able to finance, or able to hold,'' said James Grady, a managing director at the New York-based unit, which has $240 billion of fixed-income assets under management
Credit where it’s due - (www.ml-implode.com) - The slowdown in housing looks increasingly hazardous to the overall economy…. Without such a strong underlying economy, the current malaise in housing could turn into a deeper, longer downturn….Arguably, the current episode may…be one of the worst housing downturns we have ever seen, given the amount of excess supply coupled with extremely low levels of affordability and the deflation of what could be described as a speculative investment mania
Apollo company halts cash payouts - (www.ft.com) A fourth company owned by private equity firm Apollo Management has exercised its option to suspend cash payments on part of its debt, taking advantage of one of the most controversial financing techniques of the leveraged buy-out boom. But the obvious downside is that some investors are being paid with paper, increasing their exposure to troubled companies. Other companies with PIK options enabling them to suspend cash payments on their bonds include some of the targets of the leveraged buy-out binge – such as Freescale Semiconductor, HCA and Univision.
Moody's Implied Ratings Show MBIA, Ambac Turn to Junk - (www.bloomberg.com) - The team from Moody's Analytics, which operates separately from Moody's ratings division, uses credit-default swap prices as an alternative system of grading debt. These so-called implied ratings often differ significantly from Moody's official grades. The implied ratings frequently show that swap traders think debt is in more danger of defaulting than Moody's credit ratings signify. And here's the kicker: The swaps traders are usually right
Banks' credit crisis solutions have echoes of 1929 Depression - (www.telegraph.co.uk)


Other Stories:

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...
A Tale of Two Housing Markets: There’s REO, and Everything Else - (www.ml-implode.com) - "Proving that even within a single local housing market, sales trends can be more complex than they might otherwise seem, new da...
Real Price Declines Swamping Nominal Home Price Trends: First American - (www.ml-implode.com) - "That inflation monster investors are worried about? It may prove to have a strong bite on housing just yet, according to data released Monday morning by First American CoreLogic
Fed On Hold Till the Fall (Despite Calls to Raise Rates)? - (www.ml-implode.com) - "It appears the US central bank got taken to the woodshed at a conference hosted by the New York Fed for overly aggressive rate ...
Number of Foreclosed Homes Keeps Rising - (www.ml-implode.com)
Fed Buying Less at Treasury Auctions Thanks to New Facilities - (www.ml-implode.com)
In ‘Foreclosure Capital’ 3 out of 4 homes for sale is a foreclosure - (www.ml-implode.com)
Research Zeitgeist: Inflation, Libor and Vintage Subprime - (www.ml-implode.com)
Liquidity Issues Hit Hedge Funds - (www.ml-implode.com)
Kohn Signals Wall Street May Get Permanent Access to Fed Loans - (www.ml-implode.com)

The Lowdown on Libor - (www.businessweek.com)
Traders Seek Truth With Swaps Instead Of Libor - (www.bloomberg.com)
The State of Real Estate - (PDF - patrick.net)
Trouble in Housing Trickles Up - (www.nytimes.com)
Troubled Sellers Up 463% In San Mateo County - (sanmateore.dreamhosters.com)
Global housing markets in review; forecasts for 2008 - (www.globalpropertyguide.com)
Banks' solutions have echoes of 1929 Depression - (www.telegraph.co.uk)
Newly Overdue Mortgages Swamp Effort to Fix Defaults - (www.bloomberg.com)
It's Only Going to Get Worse - (www.weeklystandard.com)
U.S. Bank Failures Loom - (www.blacklistednews.com)
Don't raid retirement savings to pay the mortgage - (www.marketwatch.com)
Maryland County Realtors' Building For Sale - (patrick.net)

Influx of workers 65 or older working in retail jobs - (www.chron.com)
Egg price reflects soaring costs for diesel, feed, chicks - (www.ajc.com)
Economic chill freezes Vegas budget - (www.lasvegassun.com)
Slow economic times mean pay cuts for many workers - (www.usatoday.com)

Morgan Stanley, Merrill, Lehman Ratings Cut by S&P - (www.bloomberg.com)
The market turns cold in a desert boomtown - (www.latimes.com)
U.S. Treasury secretary: No 'quick fix' for high oil prices - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Number of Foreclosed Homes Keeps Rising - (online.wsj.com)
Foreclosure Bus Tour, Sign of Housing Bust, Hits New York Area - (www.bloomberg.com)
A Return of That ’70s Show? - (www.nytimes.com)
U.S. ISM Factory Index Probably Shrank in May for Fourth Month - (www.bloomberg.com)
The Fed, the cost of oil and inflation - (www.ft.com)

Wachovia Ousts Thompson on Writedowns, Share Plunge - (www.bloomberg.com)
HSBC overhauling mortgage, credit practices - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Luxury retailers realize it's a new shopping scene - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Airline Group Sees ‘Desperate’ Times - (www.nytimes.com)
GM, Motorola, New York Times Burn Cash Flow, Keeping Dividends - (www.bloomberg.com)
Airline industry to plunge into loss - (www.ft.com)
Minnesota town tells Google Maps to get lost - (news.cnet.com)
Student Loans Start to Bypass 2-Year Colleges - (www.nytimes.com)

U.K. Mortgage Approvals Drop to Record, Factory Growth Stalls - (www.bloomberg.com)
European Finance Ministers Signal Inflation Concerns - (www.bloomberg.com)
Outlook: UK nears recession - (www.ft.com)
US staring at double-dip recession as calls for higher interest rates grow - (www.telegraph.co.uk)
South Korea to delay resumption of U.S. beef imports - (www.chron.com)
Negative equity mounting in the UK - (www.guardian.co.uk)
Malaysia tired of subsidizing gas for Thai drivers - (www.chron.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)

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)