New York Times - "Fannie and Freddie Shares Plunge" (7-7-08)

"Freddie Mac stock tumbled more than 18 percent in early afternoon trading, to $11.83, while Fannie Mae shares also dropped more than 18 percent, to $15.30."

CNBC - "Retail Property Has Worst Second Quarter in 30 Years" (7-7-08)

"U.S. store closings and cutbacks turned the second quarter into the worst for strip mall owners in 30 years, as budget-conscious consumers flocked to low-cost warehouse-style grocery centers, according to a report by real estate research firm Reis. Strip malls, which are usually anchored by grocery or drug stores, saw average vacancies spike 0.5 percentage points to 8.2 percent, a level unseen since 1995, according to the report released on Monday."

Yahoo - "Countrywide workers worried about severance" (7-7-08)

"Workers at Countrywide Financial Corp are worried that new owners Bank of America Corp will force them into a position that will cause them to lose their severance benefits, the New York Post reported."

Bloomberg - "Maguire Properties Gets $939.7 Million Takeover Offer" (7-7-08)

"The offer is worth $939.7 million and is 67 percent more than the July 3 closing price for Maguire. Loeb's Third Point LLC hedge fund, Maguire's fourth-biggest investor, made the disclosure in a regulatory filing and didn't name the bidder. Another fund, JMB Capital Partners LP, will say today in a filing it bought a 9.8 percent stake in Maguire and will seek control of the board, managing partner Jon Brooks said in an interview. "

Bloomberg - "Home Prices Fall in 23 of 25 U.S. Metropolitan Areas" (7-7-08)

"The Sacramento, California, region saw the biggest drop, with prices falling 31.7 percent from April 2007. Sacramento was followed by the Las Vegas area (29.9 percent), San Diego (28.1 percent), Phoenix (25.5 percent) and Los Angeles (23.4 percent), Radar Logic said. "

Bloomberg - "Profits in U.S. Probably Fell Again, Led by Citigroup" (7-7-08)

"Profits at U.S. companies probably shrank for the fourth consecutive quarter, the longest losing streak since 2002, as Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. suffered more losses from the collapse of the mortgage market."

Orange County Register - "Fed official sees home-price dips ‘well into 2009′" (7-7-08)

"Changes in housing prices are inextricably linked to household wealth, which in turn affects consumer spending, as well as prospects for housing construction. Unfortunately, it appears to me that there are at least three reasons for thinking that housing prices have further to fall. First, the ratio of house prices to rents—a kind of price-dividend ratio for housing—still remains quite high by historical standards, despite having fallen from its historical peak reached in early 2006."

Realty Times - "Market Conditions: Yolo County, California" (7-7-08)

"Ken and Linda Pillard, market experts in Yolo County, California, say default notices have jumped from 197 to 488 since 2007. But despite those figures, they say this market is showing promising signs for buyers, who are in the perfect position to take advantage of low interest rates and extraordinary inventory."