NAHB - "Clean Water Act Proposals Go Too Far, NAHB Tells Senate" (12-13-07)

"with a credit crisis exacerbating the housing slowdown, NAHB believes that Congress should focus its limited time and resources on legislation to help home owners and home buyers, rather than pursue legislative ideas that not only will restrict the industry’s ability to recover but also make new homes more costly, he told senators."

Mortgage Bankers Association - "Continued Increase in Q3 Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Debt Outstanding Produces Record Numbers" (12-13-07)

"The level of commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding grew by 2.8 percent in the third quarter, exceeding $3.2 trillion, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) analysis of the Federal Reserve Board Flow of Funds data. The $3.22 trillion in commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding recorded by the Federal Reserve was an increase of $87.7 billion from the second quarter 2007. Multifamily mortgage debt outstanding grew to $813 billion, an increase of $23.5 billion or 3 percent from the second quarter."

Bloomberg - "U.S. Holiday Sales Drop for Second Week, Research Group Says" (12-13-07)

"U.S. retail sales dropped for the second straight week as consumers postponed holiday gift purchases during what may be the worst holiday shopping season in five years. Sales fell 2.7 percent in the seven days through Dec. 8, following a 4.4 percent decline a week earlier, Chicago-based research firm ShopperTrak RCT Corp. said yesterday. About 12 percent fewer shoppers visited stores last week compared with the same period last year, ShopperTrak said."

Yahoo - "Wholesale Inflation Surges, but Sales Up" (12-13-07)

"A record jump in gasoline prices pushed up wholesale inflation in November at the fastest pace in more than three decades, while retail sales showed unexpected strength. The Labor Department said Thursday that wholesale prices rose by 3.2 percent last month, the biggest increase in 34 years. The jump reflected a 34.8 percent surge in gasoline prices. Outside of energy and food, core inflation posted a 0.4 percent jump, double what was expected."

Bloomberg - "Ambac Reinsures $29 Billion Portfolio to Keep Rating" (12-13-07)

"Ambac guarantees $556 billion of securities and the loss of its AAA rating jeopardizes the rankings on that debt as well as threatens the New York-based company's biggest source of revenue. MBIA Inc., the largest bond insurer, agreed to sell as much as $1 billion of stock to Warburg Pincus LLC earlier this week while Moody's Investors Service, Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's examine the seven AAA rated insurers' credit quality."

Bloomberg - "CIBC's Big Subprime Secret Might Cost Billions" (12-13-07)

"Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has a big skeleton in its vault. And the bank's executives are doing a ham-handed job of trying to keep it there. CIBC's lightly guarded secret is the name of a 'U.S. financial guarantor' that faces a possible downgrade on its A credit rating and is 'not necessarily rated by both Moody's & S&P.' That's how CIBC last week described the company that is insuring $3.47 billion, or about a third, of the collateralized- debt obligations it holds that are tied to U.S. subprime mortgages."

The Washington Post - "Analysts Late to the Alarm" (12-13-07)

"Throughout 2006, T. Rowe Price analyst Susan Troll watched in horror as one risky mortgage deal after another hit the market. She became alarmed by a widening trend: mortgage lenders issuing home loans of poor quality that were then packaged and sold by Wall Street investment banks to investors worldwide. Finally, she could stand it no longer. In e-mails and meetings with money managers, Troll urged T. Rowe Price to sell its portfolio of subprime mortgage securities."

Yahoo - "Greenspan: Odds Rising for a Recession" (12-13-07)

"Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says the odds the U.S. will fall into a recession are 'clearly rising' and he believes economic growth is 'getting close to stall speed.'"

CNN - "Builders' lobbyist: We made too many homes" (12-13-07)

"Builders deserve some blame for the nation's housing and mortgage problems because some overbuilt, flooding the market with new properties, according to leading advocate for the homebuilders. Jerry Howard, chief executive of the National Association of Home Builders, told CNNMoney.com that numerous problems caused the sharp slump in the housing and mortgage markets, but he added that overbuilding during the boom years was a contributing factor."

Reuters - "Countrywide loan funding tumbles 40 percent in November" (12-13-07)

"Countrywide Financial Corp the No. 1 U.S. mortgage lender, said on Thursday mortgage loan funding tumbled 40 percent to $23 billion in November, sending its shares down 5 percent as late payments continue to escalate."

Real Estate Journal - "Why Borrowers May Not Benefit From Rate Cut" (12-13-07)

"Not all borrowers are benefiting from the Fed's moves to cut interest rates. The problem: Loans that are tied to a variety of interest-rate benchmarks -- some of which aren't necessarily moving in lockstep with Fed action. Yesterday, the Federal Reserve cut short-term interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.25% -- the central bank's third rate cut since mid-September -- to help ease the credit crunch and reduce the economy's chances of falling into a recession. The moves have helped some borrowers who have seen interest rates on their credit cards and home-equity lines of credit fall. Interest rates on many fixed-rate mortgages also have dropped amid a decline in Treasury yields as investors sought out safe investments."