Yahoo - "FDIC asks banks to monitor use of bailout money" (1-12-08)

"Federal regulators are asking financial institutions to monitor their use of government money received under the $700 billion rescue plan and other support. Banks and other financial institutions should track how the federal money or guarantees they received helped them boost 'prudent lending' and efforts to help at-risk borrowers avoid foreclosures, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Monday in a directive issued to the roughly 5,100 state-chartered banks and savings and loans for which it is the primary regulator."

Bloomberg - "U.S. Housing Market Still Offers Hidden Value" (1-12-08)

"If you were searching for pockets of optimism in the U.S. housing market, where would you look? Easy guesses would be to avoid Detroit, Cleveland or any cities with domestic automobile plants or troubled manufacturers. Then there are the foreclosure gulches of Central and Southern California, which include the Modesto, Stockton, Bakersfield, Riverside and Sacramento areas. Those cities will take a long time to recover. Too many homes there were sold at bubble prices to people with dodgy finances."

Bloomberg - "Gross Bets on Washington After Housing Collapse Wager" (1-12-08)

"The collapse of the U.S. housing market helped Bill Gross outperform 99 percent of his fund- manager peers over the past five years. Now he’s betting on securities that may benefit from rescue efforts in Washington. The 64-year-old co-chief investment officer at Pacific Investment Management Co. is urging investors to anticipate which assets will benefit as the government struggles to boost the economy. Last week he recommended municipal bonds, inflation- protected Treasuries and debt the U.S. government plans to buy. In the past six months, Gross bought senior bank debt, agency mortgage securities and preferred shares in financial companies, all before the government did the same"

Yahoo - "Bush agrees to Obama entreaty for bailout funds" (1-12-08)

"Acting at Barack Obama's behest, President George W. Bush on Monday asked Congress for the final $350 billion in the financial bailout fund, effectively ceding economic reins to the president-elect in an extraordinary display of transition teamwork."

Orange County Register - "O.C. distressed homes for sale at 10-month low" (1-12-08)

"The distressed inventory, foreclosures and short sales, dropped by 401 homes over the past month, bringing the total to 5,118, its lowest point since March of last year. That’s a 7.2% drop. Distressed properties now make up 45.3% of the inventory, a slight drop over the past couple of weeks. 69% of all pending sales are distressed sales right now. Obviously, the distressed inventory is helping fuel demand. 79% of all distressed homes are isolated below $500,000 and 92% are found below $750,000. It is no wonder that the lower end of the market has been a lot hotter than the rest of the market."