Reuters - "U.S. pressured BofA to complete Merrill deal" (4-23-09)

"Bank of America Corp CEO Kenneth Lewis was pressured by senior federal officials Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke to accept a merger with troubled Merrill Lynch & Co or lose his job, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday. In a letter to senior members of congressional committees and the head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Cuomo said Lewis met then U.S. Treasury Secretary Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke in Washington in mid-December."

Bloomberg - "Fannie Mae Creates Housing Mirage With Bum Loans" (4-24-09)

"Give money away. That was a solution to the housing crisis mortgage giant Fannie Mae hit on last year. Faced with growing numbers of homeowners unable to make mortgage payments, Fannie decided to fund loans to borrowers that were instant losers. The point was to buy time. Even though those loans resulted in a $453 million loss, they helped keep troubled homeowners from defaulting. That meant Fannie for now didn’t have to make good on loan guarantees that may have cost it as much as $2.4 billion."

Wall Street Journal - "In Real Estate, A New Class of Haves and Have Nots" (4-24-09)

"The latest data from the National Association of Realtors, which rattled nerves on Wall Street this week, showed national home sales are still weak. But they also showed how home sellers nationwide have split into two camps."

Economist.com - "Five questions for Robert Reich" (4-25-09)

"I do believe we're approaching the end of the beginning, but I see little reason for optimism over the next 12 to 18 months. Aggregate demand is so far short of total capacity that we're still caught in a vicious cycle in which employers have to continue to cut payrolls, which shrinks consumers' wallets and forces them to buy even less and postpone payments on their loans, which causes more layoffs and generates more bad loans. The stimulus is a step forward but it's less than what's needed, and it doesn't really take full effect until the middle of 2010."

New York Times - "Recession, Far From Over, Already Setting Records" (4-24-09)

"The accompanying chart shows how far that index has declined from prerecession peaks during each downturn since 1960. The figure for March, released this week, showed a decline of 5.6 percent from the high set in November 2007, the month before the recession began, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research."

The Big Picture - "The Elusive Housing 'Fair Value'" (4-24-09)

"we know the recession plus a glut of foreclosed homes creates a 'self-reinforcing cycle.' Job losses and income decreases lead to more distressed sales, with prices especially pressured. Falling prices make put mortgage holders underwater — holding homes worth less than the mortgage. This leads to walkaways, jingle mail, and even more foreclosures. All of this adds up to an even greater excess supply of homes for sale. More supply equals lower prices. The entire vicious cycle continues."

Office of the Governor - "State of Emergency - Unemployment Proclamation" (4-17-09)

"on April 17, 2009, the State Employment Development Department (EDD) reported that the unemployment rate in California increased to 11.2 percent in March, that nonfarm payroll jobs declined by 62,100, that the year-over-change (from March 2008 to March 2009) showed a decrease of 637,400 jobs, and that the number of people unemployed in California was 2,080,000, up over 119,000 for the month, and up by 913,000 compared with March of 2008"

Los Angeles Times - "Housing downturn moves up to Silicon Valley mansions" (4-25-09)

"Reporting from Los Angeles and Los Altos Hills, Calif. -- The housing slump has reached even the wrought-iron gates of Silicon Valley's great estates, where the rich and sometimes not-so-famous are having to adjust their thinking and their asking prices."

Zero Hedge - "The One Trillion Commercial Real Estate Time Bomb" (4-25-09)

"there seems to be an unfortunate misunderstanding in the market that lenders will simply agree to roll the maturities on non-qualifying loans, and that the expected percentage of loans that need special lender treatment is low, roughly 5-10% of total loans. In reality the percentage of underwater loans at maturity is likely to be in the 60-70% range, meaning that refi extensions could not possibly occur without the incurrence of major losses for lenders."

CBIA - "New-Home Construction Up in March, CBIA Announces" (4-24-09)

"New-home construction in California jumped sharply in March compared to February, which the California Building Industry Association said was a clear sign that the homebuyer tax credit enacted in the beginning of March is helping to clear out inventory and generate new-home construction. According to statistics compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board, 3,317 permits were pulled throughout California during the month of March, down 31 percent when compared to the same month a year ago but up 39 percent from February."