Los Angeles Times - "U.S. threatens to rescind stimulus money over wage cuts" (5-8-09)

"Schwarzenegger's office was advised this week by federal health officials that the wage reduction, which will save California $74 million, violates provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Failure to revoke the scheduled wage cut before it takes effect July 1 could cost California $6.8 billion in stimulus money, according to state officials."

CNN - "Fannie loses $23 billion, seeks more U.S. aid" (5-8-09)

"Fannie Mae, the troubled mortgage finance company, reported a first-quarter loss of $23.2 billion on Friday. The mortgage giant also reported that it submitted a request for $19 billion from the Treasury Department to cover its losses. That followed a request earlier this year for $15.2 billion to cover 2008 losses."

Los Angeles Times - "Bank 'stress test' results hint at economic recovery" (5-8-09)

"The Federal Reserve's highly anticipated 'stress tests' found that 10 of the 19 largest banks needed to bolster their capital by a combined $75 billion. Most of that must be raised by two banks with a large California presence -- Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. -- highlighting the role of the state's housing market meltdown in the recession."

Inman - "Mortgage rates bounce off lows" (5-8-09)

"Rates on mortgages eligible for purchase by Freddie Mac bounced back slightly from last week's record lows, but remain well under 5 percent. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.84 percent with an average 0.7 point this week, up from 4.78 percent a week ago but down from 6.05 percent a year ago, Freddie Mac said in releasing results of its weekly survey of lenders."

Bloomberg - "U.S. Economy: Job Losses Slow as Economy Starts to Stabilize" (5-8-09)

"Payrolls fell by 539,000, after a 699,000 loss in March, while the unemployment rate rose to 8.9 percent, the highest level since 1983, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The Commerce Department separately said that wholesalers reduced their supply of unsold goods for a seventh month in March."

Bloomberg - "Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley Raise $15 Billion After Stress Test" (5-8-09)

"Wells Fargo sold $7.5 billion of common stock, 25 percent more than it originally planned, according to a person close to the situation, and Morgan Stanley raised $7.5 billion by selling stocks and bonds, up from $5 billion it said yesterday that it would raise. Citigroup Inc. is exchanging an additional $5.5 billion of preferred securities into common stock. Bank of America Corp. plans to sell as many as 1.25 billion shares of common stock in a shelf registration and an undetermined amount of debt that wouldn’t be guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Corp."

Bloomberg - "Bad Loans Make Charges More Likely at Small-Cap Banks" (5-8-09)

"Corus Bankshares Inc., Frontier Financial Corp. and W Holding Co. are among small banks in the U.S. where bad loans have grown larger than reserves, raising the possibility of writedowns, loan limits and a demand for capital that may prompt some to seek buyers"

Bloomberg - "REITs Raise $10.6 Billion to Cut Debt, Buy Competitors’ Assets" (5-8-09)

"Real estate investment trusts in the U.S. have raised $10.6 billion from share sales this year, almost matching the total for all of 2008, to reduce debt and acquire assets from competitors weakened by the recession."

Inman - "Realtor.com parent loses $10.6M in Q1" (5-8-09)

"Realtor.com operator Move Inc. reported a first-quarter net loss of $10.6 million, or 7 cents per share, citing $1.9 million in severance pay and $8.7 million in stock-based compensation charges associated with executive departures and an incoming CEO."