NAHB - "Energy Efficiency Ranks # 1 In Consumer Green Building Priorities" (10-31-07)

"A new survey conducted for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) confirms that a desire for greater energy efficiency drives consumers to choose a green-built home. 'Green building is the home buyer’s best defense against soaring energy costs,' said NAHB President Brian Catalde, a Southern California home builder. 'But it’s up to the nation’s home builders to make sure the cure is not more expensive than the problem itself. The NAHB National Green Building Program paves the way for authentic yet cost-effective green building,' he said"

Mortgage Bankers Association - "Refinance Applications Drive Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey" (10-31-07)

"The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 26, 2007. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 681.7, an increase of 3.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 656.5 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 3.6 percent compared with the previous week and was up 19.5 percent compared with the same week one year earlier."

The Washington Post - "Buffett Testifies That He Saw Early Signs of Freddie Mac's Woes" (10-31-07)

"Billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett sat in front of a video camera in Omaha, spelled his name for the record and minced no words as he testified for the government yesterday in its case against former Freddie Mac chief executive Leland C. Brendsel. Brendsel is accused of presiding over accounting manipulations and running Freddie Mac in a reckless manner. Buffett, one of the most successful and revered investors, sold a huge stake in the mortgage funding company before the manipulations came to light, and the government wanted him to explain why."

Bloomberg - "Defaults on Insured Home Mortgages Rise 22 Percent" (10-31-07)

"Defaults by U.S. homeowners with private mortgage insurance jumped by 22 percent last month after house prices fell the most in at least six years, an industry report said. The number of insured borrowers falling more than 60 days behind on their payments climbed to 54,699 in September from 44,791 a year earlier, according to monthly data from the Washington-based Mortgage Insurance Companies of America. The defaults represented a 4.9 percent increase from a revised August number, while 2.9 percent fewer loans returned to good standing."

Reuters - "Fed cut seen slim help for housing" (10-31-07)

"A Federal Reserve interest rate cut this week won't be enough to save the reeling housing sector, overwhelmed by unsold homes. The ability to access credit in a new age of tighter lending standards has eclipsed affordability worries. A Fed easing 'is a little bit like chicken soup: it's certainly not going to hurt,' says Nicolas Retsinas, director of the joint center for housing studies at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts."

Bloomberg - "Rogers Bets Against U.S. Investment Banks, Housing" (10-31-07)

"Jim Rogers, co-founder of the Quantum Hedge Fund with billionaire George Soros, boosted his bets against U.S. securities firms because of their salary 'excesses' and money-losing investments. Rogers said he increased his year-old short positions in the past six weeks in U.S. investment banks, using exchange-traded funds and bets against individual companies he declined to name. Stocks in the industry, which pays too much in bonuses, may fall as much as 70 percent in a bear market, he said."