Bloomberg - "Fed May Take Breather After Seven Rate Cuts, Emergency Loans" (5-1-08)

"Federal Reserve officials are betting that seven interest-rate cuts and emergency loans to banks may be just about enough to pull the economy through the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. The Fed's Open Market Committee lowered its benchmark rate by a quarter point to 2 percent yesterday, extending the most aggressive easing in two decades. At the same time, the Fed backed away from previous language signaling a preference for further cuts and described reductions to date as 'substantial.'"

Market Watch - "U.S. initial jobless claims surge 35,000 to 380,000" (5-1-08)

"Erasing the drop reported in the prior week, first-time filings for state unemployment benefits surged 35,000 to 380,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. That level is the highest seen since March. The prior week's claims were revised up by 3,000 to 345,000. The four-week moving average of initial claims fell 6,500 to stand at 363,750."

Yahoo - "Economy Grew in Q1? Only If You Believe in Santa Claus" (5-1-08)

"The recession-deniers were out in force yesterday after the 'better-than-expected!' GDP figures came out: See? The economy GREW in Q1! We aren't in a recession! All that horrendous economic and housing data is just media hysteria! Here's what they didn't tell you: First, those are just preliminary numbers. Hold the champagne until the several rounds of revisions are out."

Bloomberg - "U.S. Economy: Manufacturing Shrinks for a Third Month " (5-1-08)

"Manufacturing in the U.S. shrank for a third month and rising prices eroded consumers' buying power as the six-year economic expansion ground to a halt. The factory index compiled by the Tempe, Arizona-based Institute for Supply Management was unchanged at 48.6 in April. The Commerce Department said consumer spending rose 0.4 percent in March. Stripping out the effect of inflation, purchases were up 0.1 percent after stagnating the previous month."

Bloomberg - "Zell Sees Commercial Real Estate Investment Resurging" (5-1-08)

"Billionaire Sam Zell said institutional investors are beginning to return to the market for mortgage- backed securities that finance commercial real estate deals and new construction.
'I believe the overall market has already started to ease,' Zell, chairman of Equity Residential, the largest U.S. apartment owner, said in an interview in New York. 'Is it in large volumes? No. Is it the first natural step in the evolution? Yes.'"

Bloomberg - "Paulson Says U.S. Credit-Market Crisis Is `Closer to the End'" (5-1-08)

"Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the credit crisis, now in its ninth month, probably is more than half over, and retained his forecast for the U.S. economy to keep growing. 'We are closer to the end of this problem than we are to the beginning,' Paulson said in a Bloomberg Television interview yesterday in Washington. Even with 'headwinds and despite some of the things that we're going through, this economy is still growing, albeit modestly,' he said."

Realty Times - "Regional Report: South" (5-1-08)

"The latest report from the National Association of Realtors shows that in the South, existing-home sales fell 3.5 percent to an annual rate of 1.92 million in March and are 20.0 percent below March 2007. The median price in the South was $167,200, down 7.1 percent from a year ago."

Realty Times - "Moving Hard-to-Sell Homes with Staging" (5-1-08)

"When the market slumps or you get stuck with a hard-to-sell property, you may have to ramp up your efforts -- market a little more heavily, spend more time on the phones, pound the pavement, and generate enthusiasm at showings and open houses. Another strategy is to simply try to make the house look nicer than the rest of the homes in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, when you are dealing with sellers, they are often reluctant to take on much of the work to beautify their homes. When you offer the awkward advice that they need to remove the clutter, clear out their closets and other storage areas, and make their home spotless, many sellers simply think that you expect them to do your job."

Orange County Register - "Is your neighborhood in foreclosure danger?" (5-1-08)

"Growth in home loans entering the foreclosure process in Orange County is not exactly the same as where foreclosures have already occurred but it’s fairly close. In both cases, Santa Ana ZIP codes dominate."

Orange County Register - "Bad O.C. economy hits 1-bedroom apartments" (5-1-08)

"M/PF YieldStar found new evidence of a softening economy in O.C. — one-bedroom apartments were slower to rent in the first quarter while two- and three-bedroom units were in higher demand. That’s a switch from last year when one-bedrooms were the hardest to find."