Bloomberg - "California Slump, Illinois Job Loss Buffet Candidates" (2-1-08)

"Super Tuesday, when about half the Democratic and Republican delegates are at stake in the U.S., is billed as a national presidential primary. When it comes to economic issues, it's an amalgam of very different contests. Falling home values and the collapse of the subprime- mortgage market are the major worries in several states, including the biggest prize on Feb. 5, California. A slowing automotive industry and manufacturing-job losses dominate Midwestern states like Illinois and Missouri, and parts of the South. Financial industry losses are a burden in the Northeast."

Reuters - "Greenspan defends subprime role to Swedish bankers" (2-1-08)

"Ex-Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan told a Stockholm audience on Friday he did not believe he had caused the U.S. subprime crisis and had warned of the risk in 2004, a person attending the event said. The participant in the event held by Sweden's Handelsbanken, which was closed to media, said Greenspan was reluctant to discuss last month's pair of aggressive interest-rate cuts by the Fed."

Bloomberg - "Centro MCS' U.S. Syndicate Cuts Dividend as Assets Lose Value" (2-1-08)

"Centro Properties Group, the Australian owner of U.S. malls that put itself up for sale, said it will cut distributions to investors in one of its U.S. syndicates because its assets have lost value. Centro MCS 36, which had A$337.2 million ($301 million) in assets as of June 30, will cut distributions to 7 percent a year, from 8.35 percent, in the nine months to June 30, 2008, Centro said yesterday on its Web site. Valuations decreased for the properties owned by the vehicle, which include the A$30 million Christmas Tree Plaza in Connecticut, Melbourne-based Centro said."

Bloomberg - "Beazer Exits Mortgage Business, Quits Four Markets" (2-1-08)

"Beazer Homes USA Inc., the homebuilder under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, plans to exit the mortgage business and stop selling homes in four markets. Beazer will withdraw from Charlotte, North Carolina; Cincinnati-Dayton and Columbus, Ohio; Columbia, South Carolina, and Lexington, Kentucky. Countrywide Financial Corp. will become the company's preferred loan provider, the Atlanta-based builder said today in a statement. The shares rose as much as 7.9 percent."

Bloomberg - "Wall Street Embraces Government to Avoid Recession" (2-1-08)

"With U.S. mortgage foreclosures set to top 1 million this year and home prices falling at the fastest pace since the Great Depression, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Vice Chairman Thomas Russo says the government must take action to prevent a recession."

Los Angeles Times - "Trying to tap into home equity? We'll see" (2-1-08)

"Tens of thousands of homeowners with home equity lines of credit are getting a rude surprise: They've been told by their lender that they can no longer take money out on their credit lines because sinking home prices have left them with little or no equity."

Los Angeles Times - "New federal foreclosure agency sought" (2-1-08)

"Senate Democrats demanded Thursday a much more forceful response to the crisis of home foreclosures, including the possible creation of a new government body that would purchase failing mortgages and help troubled borrowers refinance into new loans. The proposed entity, dubbed the Home Ownership Preservation Corp., echoes government efforts during the Great Depression."

Orange County Register - "Calif. real estate licenses suffer first drop since '99" (2-1-08)

"California real estate licenses dropped last month from the year before for the first time since March 1999, ending a 7 ½ upswing in which licensees increased by 81 percent. The California Department of Real Estate reported that the state had 548,959 licensees last month. That's still the third highest number on record, and it's equal to one licensee for every 22 California households or one for every 1.4 homes sold last year."

Orange County Register - "Construction work suffers 11% unemployment" (2-1-08)

"Last month’s unemployment rate for U.S. construction workers is 11%, up from 8.9% a year ago and 9% in January 2006. Now, to be fair, construction’s a seasonal business, so comparing these workers’ plight to the overall jobless rate (4.9% “seasonally adjusted”) at this time of year is silly. But it’s an honest trend to note that the 1.1 million construction workers who told government pollsters that were out of work last month is 177,000 more than January 2007, a 19% jump, and is the highest January total since 2003."

Real Estate Journal - "Applications for RefinancingMortgages Increase" (2-1-08)

"Homeowners' applications to refinance loans surged again in the Mortgage Bankers Association's latest survey of filings, rising 22.1% last week from the previous one. According to the survey, refinancings accounted for 73% of the total number of mortgage applications filed during the week ended Friday, up from 66% the previous week."

Real Estate Journal - "More Subprime PainIs on the Way" (2-1-08)

"After racking up more than $100 billion in mortgage-related losses in recent months, banks and their investors had hoped they were out of the woods. They aren't. UBS AG's warning Wednesday that its 2007 write-downs would be $4 billion higher than it predicted last month signaled that further pain may lie ahead for Wall Street banks still vulnerable to the U.S. housing sector's strife."