NAHB - "Lead-Safe Remodeling Reduces Risks, NAHB Tells Congress" (10-18-07)

"Appearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today, Mike Nagel, 2007 Chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Remodelers, testified on the effectiveness of lead-safe renovation and repair practices used by professional remodelers to reduce lead levels in older homes."

DQNews - "Bay Area home sales plummet amid mortgage woes" (10-18-07)

"Bay Area home sales sank to their lowest level in more than two decades in September, the result of a continuing market slowdown and borrowers' increased difficulties in obtaining "jumbo" mortgages, a real estate information service reported. A total of 5,014 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county Bay Area in September. That was down 31.3 percent from 7,299 in August, and down 40.1 percent from 8,374 for September a year ago, DataQuick Information Systems reported."

Mortgage Bankers Association - "MBA Strongly Opposes HUD’s Increase in Mortgage Insurance Premiums" (10-18-07)

"Recent action by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to increase the mortgage insurance premium (MIP) on most new Federal Housing Administration (FHA) multifamily mortgages drew sharp criticism from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) leadership. According to MBA, the decision by HUD will force many developments to become economically infeasible."

Market Watch - "Bank of America's quarterly profit falls 32%" (10-18-07)

"Bank of America Corp. said Thursday its quarterly profit dropped by almost one-third, as trading losses and a hit from loans related to clients doing corporate takeovers nearly wiped out the company's investment-banking income."

Bloomberg - "CP Fund Adds New Pyramid Scheme Layer: Mark Gilbert" (10-18-07)

"'As long as the music is playing, you've got to get up and dance,' Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Charles Prince told the Financial Times in July. What happens, though, if the dancehall threatens to collapse before the band strikes up its next tune? This week, the U.S. Treasury bullied Prince and some of his Wall Street buddies into creating a new fund, the snappily named Master Liquidity Enhancement Conduit. M-LEC is designed to keep the Structured Investment Vehicle waltz upright by reviving the asset-backed commercial-paper market, which has shrunk by a quarter in the past 10 weeks amid a buyer's strike."

Reuters - "Weekly jobless claims jump more than expected" (10-18-07)

"The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless aid jumped by 28,000 last week, far more than anticipated and the biggest increase for any week since February, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The higher claims data may increase the chances that the Federal Reserve will further reduce official interest rates to stimulate the economy."

Business Week - "Dangerous Waters for a Bailout" (10-18-07)

"The megafund that the nation's three biggest banks are hoping will resuscitate a chunk of the credit markets was initially greeted with enthusiasm. But it isn't clear how the plan, hashed out in six weeks, will work—a weakness that could undercut its original intent."

CNN - "Homeowners: Sell it yourself" (10-18-07)

"The last time Sabrina Williams sold a home herself, she received a solid offer the first week, got her asking price of $319,000 and saved nearly $9,000 in broker fees in the process. Snap, just like that. So when Williams, 32, a pharmaceutical company manager, and her husband Michael Cunningham, 37, an IT consultant, recently decided to sell the three-bedroom townhouse they own in Germantown, Md., she figured she knew just what they had to do to find a suitable buyer."

Los Angeles Times - "Rents on the rise as home prices slip" (10-18-07)

"While homeowners were being stung by shrinking property values, renters across the state found themselves having to dig deeper into their pocketbooks in the third quarter, according to a report to be released today. The average rent at larger apartment complexes in California increased 5.6% to $1,413 compared with a year earlier, according to a survey by Novato, Calif.-based research firm RealFacts."