Mortgage Bankers Association - "Mortgage Applications Increase In Latest MBA Weekly Survey" (4-9-08)

"The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 4, 2008. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 725.6, an increase of 5.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 688.3 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 5.7 percent compared with the previous week and was up 10.9 percent compared with the same week one year earlier."

Bloomberg - "Supreme Court Muni-Bond Delay Has Lawyers, Markets Puzzling" (4-9-08)

"Municipal-bond investors have a new question to ponder amid the turmoil in the $2.6 trillion market: What is taking the U.S. Supreme Court so long? The court heard arguments Nov. 5 on the special tax breaks that 42 states provide to municipal bonds issued within their borders. At the time, many analysts and lawyers predicted a quick decision that would allow in-state exemptions and overturn a Kentucky court ruling that declared them unconstitutional."

The Washington Post - "IMF Puts Cost of Crisis Near $1 Trillion" (4-9-08)

"Worldwide losses from the credit crisis could near $1 trillion, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday, reflecting the massive cost of the breakdown in markets for home mortgages and other kinds of debt. The IMF, which is holding its semiannual meeting in Washington this week, urged banks to disclose losses quickly, raise extra cash if necessary, improve their techniques for dealing with risk and reconsider how top managers are paid so that they have better long-term incentives."

CNN - "House takes on housing amid partisan split" (4-9-08)

"A key House committee took up in earnest Wednesday proposed solutions to the housing crisis as the White House floated an idea to expand a program to help homeowners in the hopes of warding off more stringent legislation. The hearing of the House Financial Services Committee highlights the fault lines in the ongoing debate over how far government should go to ease the mortgage crisis."

Bloomberg - "Citigroup May Sell $12 Billion of Loans, Person Says" (4-9-08)

"Citigroup Inc. is in talks to sell $12 billion of loans at a loss to Apollo Management LP, Blackstone Group LP and TPG Inc. as part of an effort to shrink the bank's balance sheet, a person briefed on the matter said. A sale to the private equity firms would shield the bank from further declines in the value of the debt, said the person, who wouldn't be identified because negotiations are private. The loans are part of the $43 billion in financing that Citigroup agreed to provide for leveraged buyouts last year before credit markets froze and saddled the New York-based company with hard- to-sell assets."

Orange County Register - "Bush expands FHA, again, to aid subprime borrowers" (4-9-08)

"Bush is expanding the Federal Housing Administration’s FHASecure program announced last year to refinance borrowers who became late on payments after a low teaser rate ended. FHA will be able to refinance mortgages after lenders voluntarily reduce the principal owed to a maximum loan-to-value of either 90% or 97% of the home’s current value."

Orange County Register - "Major O.C. business expansions down 10.1%" (4-9-08)

"Although O.C.’s projects dropped by 10.1%, they accounted for nearly a third of the 203 expansions in the five-county SoCal region. Business expansions declined 17.5% regionwide pulled down in large part by the Riverside-San Bernardino area, which saw 30% fewer major projects."

The Wall Street Journal - "To Preserve Home Equity Help Your Neighbor" (4-9-08)

"With falling house prices in the news every day, many homeowners are asking: What's the best way to preserve my home's equity? Unfortunately, unless you can quietly buy your neighbor's house before it becomes a short sale, or convince vulture capitalists to purchase all the foreclosures in your neighborhood, there's little you can do to protect property against today's main drags on home prices."