NAHB - "Housing Starts And Permits Fall To Lowest Levels On Record In October" (11-19-08)

"In a month marked by extreme volatility and uncertainty on both Wall Street and Main Street, home builders responded to deteriorating conditions in the housing market by further reducing the pace of new construction and permit issuance in October to the lowest levels for any single month on record, according to figures released by the U.S. Commerce Department today."

Mortgage Bankers Association - "Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey" (11-19-08)

"The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending November 14, 2008. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 398.6, a decrease of 6.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 425.0 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 7.2 percent compared with the previous week and was down 41.3 percent compared with the same week one year earlier."

Yahoo - "US home construction sinks to new record low" (11-19-08)

"The Commerce Department reported that construction of new homes and apartments fell 4.5 percent in October, the fourth straight monthly decline. Construction sank to an annual rate of 791,000 units from an upwardly revised September rate of 828,000 units."

Yahoo - "Fed sharply lowers forecasts, hints of rate cut" (11-19-08)

"The Federal Reserve on Wednesday sharply lowered its projections for economic activity this year and next, and signaled that additional interest rate reductions may be needed to help combat the worst financial crisis to jolt the country in more than a half-century."

Bloomberg - "Citi to Wind Down SIVs After $3.3 Billion of Losses" (11-19-08)

"Citigroup agreed to buy the remaining assets held by the structured investment vehicles, or SIVs, which have a current market value of $17.4 billion, the New York-based bank said today in a statement. That's down from $49 billion last December, when Pandit pledged to support the SIVs -- backed by bank debt and bonds linked to mortgages, student loans and credit cards -- to minimize investor losses."

Orange County Register - "Fire’s property damage surpasses $142 million" (11-19-08)

"Yorba Linda: Damage to homes run $125 million to $135 million. The city had 118 homes destroyed and 53 damaged. Anaheim: Property damage estimated at $17.4 million as 8 single-family homes and 48 apartments were destroyed; 13 houses and 48 apartments damaged."

Orange County Register - "Wachovia, Golden West under investigation" (11-19-08)

"Prosecutors are examining whether Golden West Financial, acquired by Wachovia in 2006, fraudulently lured borrowers into mortgages, such as by switching them into more expensive loans or falsifying financial information so they could qualify, Russoniello said. His office and SEC investigators in San Francisco are also scrutinizing whether the banks misled investors about the quality of Golden West’s loans, he said."