posted by Bill Coppedge

Housing Prices Are Still Headed Down - … That horizontal line is the average inventory of unsold homes. At the rate we’re going, we’ll get there in June 2010.  … - Dr. Bill Connerly - seeking alpha

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COUNTRYWIDE FINANCIAL: BofA to Inherit Mortgage Crisis Lawsuits - Bank of America Corp., which made a $4 billion buyout offer for Countrywide Financial Corp. in January, stands to inherit the latter’s numerous lawsuits in line with the acquisition, Amy Miller of Law.com notes in her Feb. 22 article…  -  Troubled Company Reporter 

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Paper:  Securitization: The Tool of Financial Transformation  -  FRANK J. FABOZZI and VINOD KOTHARI -  thanks Ira Artman -   SSRN 
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Bernanke Isn’t Finished Cutting - By a Longshot  -  Babak - tradersnarrative.com 

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Financial Crisis Update from DanskeBank - thanks Ira Artman
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For the first time, the ratio of home equity to value is below 50 percent - Price Declines Continue at Rapid Pace - Dean Baker -  thanks Ira Artman -     CEPR.net 

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Worst of subprime market hit behind us - Toronto Star

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Miami Condo Buyers: Vultures or Fools - The Wall Street Journal’s “Florida Bust Spawns Vulture Culture” talks about a series of amateur real estate investors ready to pounce on Miami’s weak condo market. I call them amateurs because none of them speaks about the negative cash flow that they will incur until their units appreciate to their targets. None of the investors cited live in the Miami area …  -  Clickbroker 

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Why Aren’t Housing Derivatives More Popular? - Zubin Jelveh  - portfolio.com 

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Bill contains valuable updates to FHA’s reverse mortgage program   - thanks to John Yedinak at Reverse Mortgage Daily for finding this. 

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rumor or true?  - Countrywide Chooses Sun Over Ski Trip! - Posted By:Jane Wells - CNBC 

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Bernanke’s History Lesson - The Fed chief’s study of the 1930s, when central bankers mistakenly kept money tight, may mean he’ll dismiss inflation and keep slashing rates -  BusinessWeek 

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Both WSJ and NYT have “Walk-Away” articles on the same day:
1.  WSJ “Walk-Away” article - Borrowers Abandon Mortgages as Prices Drop - WSJ

2.  NYT “Walk-Away” article - Facing Default, Some Walk Out on New Homes  - NYT

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Vulture Fund Deals With Delinquent Homeowners Lost by Subprime -    Bloomberg

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Inflation: Money’s Termite - … As shown, using the upper level of the Fed’s inflation comfort zone (2%), $1,000 today is worth only $603 in twenty-five years.  This translates to nearly a 40% reduction in value.  You think that’s bad?  When we use the current values of the CPI and PPI, the value of money declines substantially faster. … - BIG 

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Democrats Float Federal Mortgage Bailout Plan - A key Democrat in Congress is planning to introduce legislation in the next few weeks that would engage the Federal government in directly bailing out troubled homeowners unable to afford their current mortgages. - Paul Jackson  -  housingwire