NAHB - "New-Home Sales Rise 4.8 Percent In September" (10-25-07)

"Sales of new single-family homes rose 4.8 percent in September, recovering a portion of the substantial ground they lost in the previous month, according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department today. Sales reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 770,000 units following major downward revisions to figures for the previous three months."

NAR - "Nearly 30 Percent of Realtors® Lack Health Insurance" (10-25-07)

"The National Association of Realtors® testified at the Senate Finance Committee hearing today that the current individual health insurance market does not serve the needs of its self-employed members. Nearly 30 percent of NAR members lack health insurance, and cost is the primary reason – 84 percent of Realtors® who do not have coverage say they can’t afford it."

NAR - "NAR, SGA Find Americans Prefer to Spend More on Mass Transit and Highway Maintenance, Less on New Roads" (10-25-07)

"Three-fourths of Americans surveyed believe that either being smarter about development or improving public transportation are both better long-term solutions for reducing traffic congestion than building new roads, according to a survey sponsored by the National Association of Realtors® and Smart Growth America."

Bloomberg - "Merrill Lynch May Write Down $4 Billion More, CIBC Analyst Says" (10-25-07)

"Merrill Lynch & Co., the largest brokerage firm, may have to write down another $4 billion in the fourth quarter as the value of subprime assets continues to drop, according to CIBC World Markets. 'Thus far, Merrill has taken the largest writedown of its financial peers, but unfortunately, we believe in aggregate it will only get larger,' CIBC analyst Meredith Whitney said in a report released yesterday. She kept her recommendation at 'sector performer' while cutting her fourth quarter earnings estimate to a 50-cent per share loss."

Bloomberg - "O'Neal's Subprime Shakeout Shows Peril of SIV Bailout" (10-25-07)

"The collapse of confidence in Merrill Lynch & Co. after the world's biggest brokerage lost six times more than it forecast earlier this month helps explain why Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's attempt to rescue SIVs is troubled. Merrill Chief Executive Officer Stan O'Neal told shareholders yesterday that the New York-based firm had a loss of $2.24 billion, the biggest in its 93-year history, after reducing the value of mortgages and asset-backed bonds. Those are the same hard-to-trade securities owned by structured investment vehicles, or SIVs, that Paulson is attempting to keep afloat with a new $80 billion fund."

Los Angeles Times - "A puzzling poll question" (10-25-07)

"Today's Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll on economic issues contains a couple of headlines: Most Americans (65%) believe a recession is likely in the next year, and a lot of Americans (45%) have no opinion on the way Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is doing his job (we suspect a large portion of those don't know who he is, or what he does)."

Real Estate Journal - "Caution is the Key Word In This Uncertain Market" (10-25-07)

"Like most investors, I'm delighted when markets rise -- even when I can't figure out why. Until last week, that's how I was feeling. Since the market bottomed on Aug. 16, in the midst of a credit meltdown and market turmoil, it soared to new highs. It was as if Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had pulled out a magic wand, waved it to produce a half-point rate cut, and poof! The credit crisis was gone."