MSNBC - "Why do I have to pay my neighbor’s mortgage?" (2-23-09)

"You’re not alone in wondering why your taxes should be used to help your neighbor make their mortgage payment. The Obama administration’s plan to use $75 billion of tax dollars help some homeowners pay their mortgages touched off a huge backlash."

Bloomberg - "Geithner Bad Bank Alternative May Rely on Loans to Hedge Funds" (2-23-09)

"Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s financial-rescue plan may be doomed if he doesn’t offer low-cost loans to hedge funds and other investors to help them buy toxic assets weighing down bank balance sheets. Creating a so-called bad bank or aggregator bank that would use federal funds to acquire and warehouse the assets, as some have proposed, would be costly for taxpayers and require too much government interference, say two experts on distressed securities who have pitched an alternative plan to officials."

Bloomberg - "Fed May Need to Recast TALF on Commercial Real Estate" (2-23-09)

"The Federal Reserve may need to loosen the terms of a new $1 trillion credit initiative aimed at averting a meltdown in commercial mortgage-backed securities, analysts and industry representatives said. The Fed would prop up the CMBS market by lending against the securities for a five-year term rather than three years, and taking as collateral existing debt rather than just new bonds, they said. The Fed hasn’t said when the program, the Term Asset- Backed Securities Loan Facility, will begin accepting the debt."

Orange County Register - "U.S. eyes big stake in Citigroup" (2-23-09)

"The Wall Street Journal reports ailing financial giant Citigroup has proposed the U.S. government take a large stake in the company. The Obama administration hasn’t said if it supports the plan. The proposal is for the government to convert a chunk of its $45 billion in Citi’s preferred shares to common shares, giving it ownership in the range of 25% to 40%."

Orange County Register - "O.C. home shoppers face tightest market in 3 years" (2-23-09)

"Demand — new pending sales within the prior month — rose in the past two weeks to 2,891 as of last Thursday vs. 1,820 a year ago and 2,463 pending sales in 2007 at this time. Homes on the market have been relatively flat this year, running 11,541 last week vs. 15,392 a year ago and 12,194 in ‘07."

Orange County Register - "O.C. distressed home sellers down 16%" (2-23-09)

"Number of distressed homes on the market as of last Thursday, both foreclosures and short sales, was off 190 from the previous two weeks. Since end of November, distressed properties for sale in O.C. are down 16% 19%. Distressed inventory is 42% of all homes for sale vs, 44% two weeks ago."