DQNews - "Bay Area home sales near bottom again, median price plunges" (9-18-08)

"A total of 7,232 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county Bay Area in August. That was down 4.7 percent from 7,586 in July, and down 0.9 percent from 7,299 in August 2007, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick."

USA Today - "Anxiety rises as the era of easy credit comes to an abrupt end" (9-18-08)

"The years of easy money were fun while they lasted. Banks and credit card providers were so flush with cash that they could help virtually anyone — including many who had trouble juggling their bills — pay for whatever they wanted."

CNN - "How we got here: It's housing, stupid" (9-18-08)

"nation's financial system is in the midst of a massive shakeup and many on Wall Street and in Washington are pointing fingers and looking for someone to blame. But in the end, it all comes back to one issue - housing. Earlier this decade, it was much easier to get a mortgage. Home prices soared about 85% from 1996 through 2006 in inflation-adjusted dollars, creating a bubble. Then the bubble popped. And the fallout isn't over yet, experts say."

Bloomberg - "Crisis Exposes Flaws in U.S. Economy, Tarnishes Image" (9-18-08)

"rapid-fire rescues of financial firms may end up tarnishing America's free-market reputation as the moves expose defects in the U.S. economy, undermining its standing with foreign buyers of the dollar and U.S. Treasury securities. The government's actions might add hundreds of billions to a budget deficit already expected to hit a record next year. The salvage operations, which include Tuesday's takeover of American International Group Inc., also raise questions about the U.S. commitment to a free-market economy that, until recently, was the envy of the world."

Bloomberg - "Bright Side of a Total Financial Market Collapse" (9-18-08)

"One of life's rules is that there's bad in good and good in bad. The total collapse of the U.S. financial system is no exception. Even in the midst of the current financial despair we can look around and identify many collateral benefits. A lot of attractive office space seems to be opening up in midtown Manhattan, for instance, and the U.S. government is now getting paid to borrow money. (And with T-bills yielding 0 percent, they really ought to borrow a lot more of it, and quickly.)"

Bloomberg - "Buffett, Greenberg May Find AIG Rummage-Sale Bargains" (9-18-08)

"AIG will probably sell assets to raise cash and repay the $85 billion loan it secured Sept. 16 from the Federal Reserve to stay in business. The insurance units are solvent, regulators said, because New York-based AIG was barred from tapping reserves at the subsidiaries even as $18 billion of losses tied to home loans drained capital from the holding company."

Yahoo - "Fed, ECB pump billions into money markets" (9-18-08)

"The world's major central banks banded together on Thursday to inject as much as $180 billion into money markets in a bid to stave off the growing global financial crisis. The Federal Reserve joined with the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank to pump more short-term dollar liquidity into the financial system."

Yahoo - "Housing construction plunges 6.2 pct. in August" (9-18-08)

"Construction of new homes and apartments fell to the weakest pace in 17 years in August, far more than expected, but lower mortgage rates and tax credits have given builders some glimmer of hope of a possible rebound."

Bloomberg - "U.S. Mortgage Rates May Wreak Havoc After Libor Gain" (9-18-08)

"About 6 million U.S. mortgages, including almost all subprime home loans and 41 percent of prime ARMs, are linked to the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, according to First American CoreLogic in Santa Ana, California. Today's daily rate more than doubled, with smaller gains in the one-week and one-month rates, as lenders demanded higher compensation for risk after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed and the value of American International Group Inc. fell 84 percent in a week."