Bloomberg - "Goldman's Global Alpha Fund Fell 22 Percent in August" (9-13-07)

"Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s Global Alpha hedge fund fell 22.5 percent in August, its biggest monthly decline, on losses from currency and stock trades. The fund, managed by Mark Carhart and Raymond Iwanowski, lost a third of its value in 2007, according to an update sent to investors. Investors last month notified New York-based Goldman, the most profitable securities firm, that they plan to withdraw $1.6 billion, or almost a fifth of the fund's assets as of July 31."

Bloomberg - "Ease Money-Market Crisis by Letting Banks Go Bust" (9-13-07)

"'A further important cause for alarm was the danger that the troubles, if not solved, would be transmitted through a domino effect to the many other secondary banks which, with much vulnerable short-term borrowing and many assets tied up in the increasingly troubled property industry, were themselves showing signs of being at risk in the harsher new economic environment.' Sounds like an apt, if somewhat wordy, description of the current money-market crisis prompted by the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market, doesn't it?"

The San Diego Union Tribune - "Housing decline continues" (9-13-07)

"San Diego County housing prices continued their slide in August as home sales dropped to a 15-year low, DataQuick Information Systems reported yesterday. The market's decline, a 4 percent drop in price from August 2006 to a median of $475,000, was propelled by relatively strong sales of lower-priced condominiums pushing down the overall median, DataQuick said."

Yahoo - "Greenspan says didn't see subprime storm brewing" (9-13-07)

"Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said he was late to see the storm gathering around mortgage lending practices and commended his successor Ben Bernanke's handling of the crisis, saying he would likely be responding in a similar fashion"

Ventura County Star - "Foreclosure sales up 784% in 2007" (9-13-07)

"Anyone wondering just how many Ventura County properties are being lost in the battered real estate market need only look at the foreclosure sales from the first half of 2007. With 548 tallied through the second quarter, foreclosure sales have increased 784 percent compared with 62 in the first half of 2006."

Bloomberg - "San Francisco Area House, Condo Sales Drop 25 Percent" (9-13-07)

"San Francisco Bay Area house and condominium sales fell 25 percent last month to the lowest for an August in 15 years as stricter loan standards pushed some buyers out of the market, DataQuick Information Systems said. A total of 7,299 new and existing single-family homes and condominiums were sold in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda and six other Northern California counties last month, down from 9,713 a year earlier, La Jolla, California-based DataQuick said today in a statement. Last month's sales count was the lowest for an August since 1992, when 6,688 homes changed owners."

The San Diego Union Tribune - "Foreclosures reach record high in S.D." (9-13-07)

"San Diego's distressed-property market grew substantially larger last month as mortgage defaults topped the 2,000 mark for the first time and foreclosures hit a record that was more than six times what they were a year ago. DataQuick Information Systems said notices of defaults, the first step leading to foreclosure, numbered 2,071 in August. That was up from 1,573 in July and more than twice the number recorded last year, 794. The previous record was 1,596 in June. DataQuick's figures go back to 1988."

Orange County Register - "O.C. home sales stay depressed" (9-13-07)

"The O.C. home sales slump deepened in August with just 2,285 residences sold, down 33.9 percent from a year ago, DataQuick said Wednesday. It was the 23rd straight month of year-over-year declines, the longest such stretch in the 20 years that DataQuick has been compiling local housing statistics. It also was the slowest August on record and the 11th worst of any month in the database."

Real Estate Journal - "Size of New Homes Shrink As Builders Battle Housing Slump" (9-13-07)

"With the nation's housing market in a slump and the mortgage market in disarray, many home builders are putting up fewer supersize homes and offering smaller floor plans. That seems to be what buyers suddenly want in an era of high prices and tougher financing."

Los Angeles Times - "Last-minute bill boosts Anschutz's L.A. project" (9-13-07)

"Legislation approved in a post-midnight rush has positioned Anschutz Entertainment Group, a major political contributor and owner of Staples Center, to tap millions of dollars in state funds to spruce up the area near the downtown arena and the company's $2.5-billion L.A. Live development. The bill's approval early Wednesday, only a few hours before the Legislature adjourned for the year, angered several lawmakers and advocates of affordable housing, including some who called for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to veto it."