Bloomberg - "Goldman May Get $321 Million on Missed Trade Center Deadlines" (6-12-09)

"Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the Wall Street firm that earned $2.3 billion last year, stands to get up to $321 million if the state and city fail to meet construction and security deadlines at the World Trade Center site. Goldman Sachs is entitled to as much as $160 million if the state doesn’t fulfill obligations on eight projects, including a transit hub and the Trade Center memorial, by Dec. 31, according to the 2005 lease. The firm also can recover another $161 million in rent on the headquarters it’s building downtown under the terms of the lease."

Bloomberg - "Fed’s Buying Loses Steam as Mortgage Rates Rise: Chart of Day" (6-12-09)

"The Federal Reserve’s mortgage- buying program to bolster housing demand by lowering fixed interest rates is losing effectiveness at a time of the year when sales of U.S. real estate traditionally peak. The CHART OF THE DAY shows the Fed’s influence on rates has waned over the course of bond buying that more than doubled purchases in three weeks or less. The first effort, in March, drove rates to a record low. After the last, they rose to a 2009 high. The figures shown exclude sales of bonds."

Bloomberg - "Paulson’s Hedge Fund Buys Distressed Debt, Mortgage Securities" (6-12-09)

"Paulson & Co., the hedge fund that made more than $3 billion betting the U.S. housing market would collapse, is buying so-called distressed debt and mortgage- backed securities."

Bloomberg - "Lehman to Pay Barclays $6 Million for Its Own Chairs" (6-12-09)

"Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., nine months after selling its brokerage to Barclays Plc while in bankruptcy, is still in disputes with the British bank over who owns what, including the investment bank’s own furniture. Lehman, once the fourth-largest investment bank, asked a bankruptcy judge in New York last week to let it pay Barclays $5.9 million to buy back desks, chairs, tables, cubicles, audio- video equipment and security paraphernalia it currently uses in a building at 1271 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan"

Orange County Register - "Foreclosure relief: ‘It just prolongs the problem’" (6-12-09)

"The Mortgage Insider had a great Q & A earlier this week on whether the government should help people avoid foreclosure. I am extending the debate here. Reporter Mathew Padilla put that question to Lawrence Roberts, who writes the irvinehousingblog.com, and who thinks the government’s foreclosure relief actually is hurting society at large, and Kevin Stein of the California Reinvestment Coalition, who believes it is beneficial."

Orange County Register - "O.C. home-price declines run at 15-month low" (6-12-09)

"Single-family homes sell for 39% less than their peak pricing (June ‘07) while condos sell 44% below their peak in March 2006. Builder prices for new homes are 45% below their February ‘05 top."

Wall Street Journal - "Rate Rise Clouds Recovery" (6-12-09)

"Rising interest rates threaten to dim prospects for a housing recovery and choke off a refinance wave that was a major plank of the Obama administration's economic-stimulus efforts. On Wednesday, rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages climbed to 5.79%, up from 5% two weeks ago, according to HSH Associates. That jump will cut roughly in half the number of borrowers with an incentive to refinance, according to FTN Financial."

Reuters - "Spike in Interest Rates Could Choke Recovery" (6-12-09)

"Rising long-term interest rates are making it more expensive for home buyers, corporations and the U.S. government to borrow money, threatening to further stifle an already weak economy. "

Upcoming Training: From time to time I will start posting some classes from some of our trusted network. One such training is coming up June 27th in Orange County. Full time investor and owner of the Investors Workshops of Orange County will be teaching Title Research and Understanding the HUD-1. More information can be found on their website:
http://investorsworkshops.com/7315.html . I'll see you there. Aaron