NAHB - "Builder Confidence Remains Unchanged In March" (3-17-08)

"Builder confidence in the market for new single-family homes remained unchanged in March, according to the latest NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. The HMI held firm at 20, which is near its historic low of 18 set in December of 2007 (the series began in January of 1985)."

Yahoo - "Bear fire sale sparks rout on eve of Fed rate cut" (3-17-08)

"A fire sale of Bear Stearns Cos Inc stunned Wall Street and pummeled global financial stocks on the eve of an expected U.S. interest rate cut aimed at preventing a meltdown of the financial system."

The Washington Post - "Housing Crunch Flattens More Companies" (3-17-08)

"As the housing and credit markets continue to spiral downward, business casualties are rising rapidly in bankruptcy courts across the Washington region. The number of corporations that have filed for Chapter 11 protection to reorganize so far this year in Maryland, Eastern Virginia and the District has more than doubled, compared with the same time period last year, court records show. The number of mostly smaller firms filing to liquidate under Chapter 7 increased far faster during that time frame, growing more than 12-fold."

The Washington Post - "What Auction Bargains?" (3-17-08)

"Given the bulging inventory of foreclosed properties that banks need to unload, an auction seems like an efficient, fair way to move the goods fast. And a rational buyer, cash in pocket and ready to commit to a no-contingencies sales contract on the spot, would only sit through such hoopla because he expects a bargain. But what I saw at the foreclosure auction left me skeptical about the availability of auction bargains. Sellers, the banks that own the foreclosures, seem to be unduly optimistic about the prices they can get for foreclosures, which are, after all, damaged goods"

Bloomberg - "Brokerages May Drop 50%, Oppenheimer's Whitney Says" (3-17-08)

"Banks and brokerages may fall by half because Bear Stearns Cos.'s sale to JPMorgan Chase & Co. for about 93 percent less than its closing price last week will create a 'major negative revaluation' of financial shares, Oppenheimer & Co.'s Meredith Whitney said."

Bloomberg - "U.S. Futures, Global Stocks, Dollar Decline After Fed Cuts Rate" (3-17-08)

"U.S. stock index futures, Asian and European equities and the dollar tumbled after the Federal Reserve cut its discount interest rate at an emergency meeting and JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to buy Bear Stearns Cos. for $2 a share. Bonds, gold and crude oil climbed."

Bloomberg - "Bernanke Plays `Whac-A-Mole' With Turmoil in Markets" (3-17-08)

"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may be facing something worse than a loss of personal credibility on Wall Street and in Washington: waning faith in the ability of the institution he leads to turn around the economy and the financial markets anytime soon. Bernanke has reached deep into the Fed's toolkit to come up with innovative ways to head off a recession and restore some calm in credit markets. While many have initially been greeted with rallies in stocks, cumulatively they haven't yet had lasting impact on bringing down credit costs and setting the stage for economic recovery."

Orange County Register - "Option One’s loan servicing gets $1.1 billion buyout deal" (3-17-08)

"H&R Block said today it inked a deal to sell the troubled loan servicing unit of Irvine-based Option One Mortgage Corp. to billionaire investor Wilbur Ross for a potential price of roughly $1.1 billion. The tax preparer said Ross has agreed to offer jobs to a 'substantial number' of employees."

Orange County Register - "Shopping for jumbo loans? FHA your best bet, broker says" (3-17-08)

"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently published info on what loans they will buy between the old conforming limit of $417,000 and the temporarily increased one in Orange County of nearly $730,000. The rules don’t make the loans any easier to get and the rates will likely be nearly as high as on jumbo loans, which are larger than conforming loans, says Al Hensling, head of broker-banker United American Mortgage in Irvine (Shown in photo)."

Real Estate Journal - "Older Homeowners Cautioned On Use of Reverse Mortgages" (3-17-08)

"The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority urged homeowners over the age of 60 to carefully weigh their options before tapping into their home equity through reverse mortgages to obtain additional income for their retirement years. The group, formed by a merger of the NASD and some regulatory functions of New York Stock Exchange parent NYSE Group Inc., warned that a reverse mortgage -- an interest-bearing loan secured by the equity in a home -- can jeopardize their financial futures."