The New York Times - "IndyMac Files for Bankruptcy Protection" (8-1-08)

"IndyMac Bancorp, the third-largest banking failure in United States history, said Friday that it had filed for bankruptcy protection, less than three weeks after being seized by federal regulators following a bank run by depositors."

USA Today - "Paulson: Housing remains biggest threat to economy" (8-1-08)

"Paulson said the economy needs to work through adjustments in housing and credit markets, which have been roiled by huge losses on mortgage loans, for the country to 'return to stronger growth next year and beyond.'"

Inman News - "Mercury Cos. exits three states" (8-1-08)

"Mercury Companies Inc. is closing down its title and escrow subsidiaries in California, Texas and Arizona, after the Colorado-based company was denied additional credit by lenders."

Bloomberg - "Merrill `Co-Opted' Analysts Backed Auction-Rate Debt" (8-1-08)

"Four days before Merrill Lynch & Co. stopped supporting the auction-rate securities market and left thousands of individual investors stuck with securities they couldn't sell, the firm's analysts recommended clients buy."

Bloomberg - "U.S. Economy: Unemployment Rate Increases to Four-Year High" (8-1-08)

"Payrolls fell by 51,000, less than forecast, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The jobless rate rose to 5.7 percent, from 5.5 percent the prior month. As recently as April, it was 5 percent. A separate report showed that manufacturing stagnated in July as companies were hit by rising raw-materials costs and slower spending."

New York Post - "LEHMAN SHOPPING MORTGAGE SECURITIES" (8-1-08)

"Lehman is engaged in talks with prospective buyers about offloading some $30 billion in commercial mortgage assets and other hard-to-value securities that have dogged its balance sheet for months and ultimately resulted in the demotion of Chief Financial Officer Erin Callan and President Joseph Gregory."

Herald Tribune - "Tapping home equity? Good luck" (8-1-08)

"Some banks, including giants Bank of America, Wachovia and Washington Mutual, are notifying customers that their home equity credit lines have been reduced or cut off because of dropping property values."

Newsday.com - "Beating the bust: Where housing sales prices rose" (8-1-08)

"Good real estate news seems hard to come by these days, as industry analysts wax on about subprime mortgage losses, the credit crunch and foreclosures on the rise. But on Long Island, there have been glimmers of hope in the first half of 2008."

Orange County Register - "Commercial late payments triple in California - to 0.06% of loans" (8-1-08)

"The rate of delinquent loans on commercial properties in California tripled in the quarter ending June 30, a survey by the California Mortgage Bankers Assn. says — climbing to 0.06 percent of outstanding loans."

Realty Times - "Inflation Concerns Ease As Do Mortgage Rates" (8-1-08)

"Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.52 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending July 31, 2008, down from last week when it averaged 6.63 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.68 percent."