Bloomberg - "Ghost Towns Appear in Spain as Decade-Long Boom Ends" (7-4-07)

"Javier Usua and Ruth Graneda never got out of the car when they visited Sanchinarro and Las Tablas, two of Madrid's biggest new suburban developments. The concrete-block buildings and empty streets were all they needed to see. 'We came to look at apartments but found ghost towns,' said Usua, a 27-year-old taxi driver. 'You'd need to drive miles for a loaf of bread or cigarettes and my friend found it creepy and unsafe so we turned around and left.'"

Bloomberg - "U.K. Subprime Lenders' Practice Is `Poor,' FSA Says" (7-4-07)

"U.K. lenders are providing mortgages to customers who don't need them and may not be able to afford them, practices that may lead to 'serious wider consequences,' the country's financial regulator said. All the subprime-mortgage lenders examined failed to apply responsible lending standards, and five of 34 intermediaries are being investigated and may be punished, the Financial Services Authority said in an e-mailed statement today."

Times Online - "Fidelity chief Bolton warns packaged loans market echoes split-cap trusts" (7-4-07)

"One of Britain’s leading fund managers said yesterday that the $1 trillion (£500 billion) institutional packaged-loans market was flawed and posed significant risks to investors. Anthony Bolton, the founder of the fund manager Fidelity International, likened the so-called Collateralised Debt Obligation (CDO) market to the UK’s split-capital investment trust sector, which collapsed in 2001 and 2002. The warning came as souring sentiment in the credit market spilt over into the financing of private equity-backed buyouts. Private equity bosses such as Jon Moulton, of Alchemy Partners, told MPs that 'overenthusiastic' lending could lead to casualties."

Financial Times - "Buyers avoid Bear Stearns' cut-priced sale" (7-4-07)

"Investors in the worse-hit of two stricken Bear Stearns hedge funds are offering to sell their holdings for as little as 11 cents on the dollar but still finding no buyers, according to unfilled trades on Hedgebay, a secondary market for funds. Vulture funds and others have been quick to bid for holdings in the two funds, but the best bid for Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leveraged Fund, the more geared of the two, is just 5 cents on the dollar."

Los Angeles Times - "More Americans fall behind on debts" (7-4-07)

"Slow job growth and declining home prices are causing financial problems for more Americans, who are falling behind on consumer debt, including home equity loans, at the highest rate since 2001, the American Bankers Assn. said Tuesday. Credit counselors said consumers were paying the price for reckless attitudes about debt fostered by years of easy credit, particularly in the mortgage market."