Bloomberg - "U.S. Heading for Slump, With or Without Bailout" (9-30-08)

"The U.S. may face its longest recession in a quarter century no matter what action Congress takes on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's $700 billion plan to rescue the battered banking industry. Economists including Joseph Lavorgna of Deutsche Bank Securities and David Greenlaw of Morgan Stanley said it now appears the economy shrank in the third quarter as credit- crimped consumers cut spending for the first time since 1991. A further contraction is likely in the next two quarters, some economists predicted, which would make the recession the longest since 1981-82."

Bloomberg - "Wachovia's Steel Ran Out of Time Amid Mortgage Losses" (9-30-08)

"Wachovia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Robert Steel was forced to sell the bank's consumer business to Citigroup Inc. for $1 a share just 80 days after pledging to win back shareholders' confidence. Time ran out after last week's forced sale of Washington Mutual Inc., the biggest savings and loan, to JPMorgan Chase & Co. amid losses tied to option adjustable-rate mortgages. WaMu's collapse heightened concern about the $122 billion of option ARMs sold by Wachovia, the No. 1 provider of such loans, according to Sean Ryan, an analyst at Sterne Agee & Leach Inc. in New York."

Bloomberg - "Citigroup Gains Scale, Confidence From Regulators" (9-30-08)

"Citigroup Inc.'s rescue of Wachovia Corp. and its banking operations creates the third-biggest U.S. branch network while aiding regulators seeking to prop up confidence in financial institutions. The purchase gives Citigroup about 4,300 U.S. offices and 3,300 worldwide. The bank will cut its dividend in half, to 16 cents from 32 cents, and raise $10 billion. The stock deal, announced before rejection of a bank bailout sent U.S. shares tumbling the most in 20 years, values Wachovia at $1 a share."

Bloomberg - "Senate Leaders Vow to Push Bailout Plan This Week" (9-30-08)

"President George W. Bush and Senate leaders vowed today to revive a $700 billion financial rescue plan amid evidence voters and lawmakers regretted yesterday's U.S. House vote to kill the bailout. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky predicted lawmakers would wrap up work on the plan by the end of this week. A plunge in U.S. markets, partially erased today, makes it clear Congress must act, he said."

CNN - "Record 16% drop in July home prices" (9-30-08)

"A closely watched index released Tuesday showed home prices tumbling by the sharpest annual rate ever in July, but the rate of monthly declines is slowing. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city housing index fell a record 16.3% in July from a year earlier, the largest drop since its inception in 2000. The 10-city index plunged 17.5%, the biggest decline in its 21-year history."

Orange County Register - "Stock-price collapse worse than housing’s fall" (9-30-08)

"when the dust was settled after Monday’s stock-killing, busted bailout vote, the S&P 500 — that venerable marker of U.S. stocks — had taken its worst tumble in 21 years. That 8% one-day fall left the S&P 500 index 29% below the all-time high set last October."

Orange County Register - "Gov. vetoes foreclosure help for Calif. renters" (9-30-08)

"A bill that would have given California tenants additional protections when the home they are renting gets foreclosed has been vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Under existing law, only the original property owner is responsible for rent deposits. If that landlord gets foreclosured by a bank, tenants now have little recourse in recovering a deposit."

The Wall Street Journal - "Is Now a Good Time to Buy a Home?" (9-30-08)

"the average buyer probably doesn't have the cash to gamble on real estate--and shouldn't, at least for now. Income growth has stalled for the vast majority of Americans for the past eight years, and home equity has been vanishing rapidly since the peak of the boom in 2005. (Last month, median existing home prices nationwide fell 6%, to $221,900.) The roiling stock market is hardly a comfort either, as everyone who has peeked at a 401k statement over the past week knows."