2005 S&P ad – courtesy of The Big Picture

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HERE WE GO AGIAN – John Meriwether’s Bond Fund Loses 24% on Credit-Market Plunge – Bloomberg

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Fire Sale – As banks seize more properties, they’re starting to cut deals.  – Forbes

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The Fever Breaks -  Liz Moyer – Days of gut-wrenching tension on Wall Street give way to hope that the worst of the credit crisis is over. – Forbes 

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When a Curve Steepener Loses $800 Million  – Felix Salmon -  portfolio.com

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Lenderlab.com has loans!!!   – wonder who is doing them?  http://www.lenderlab.com/
I received this in my email – BC

100% LTV Purchase with 575 Credit Score
100% Less than 12 Mo. Refi, Appraised Value
100% Alt Doc, 620, Two Units
100% Non-Owner Occupant Co-Borrower
97% LTV Manufactured Housing
95% 560 Cash-Out, Use Highest Score
95% Rehab Loan, Value After Improvements
95% Fixed Income Stated
95% Stated, Gift Funds Allowed, No Form 4506
95% Pay Option Arms
90% Foreclosure Bail-Out Loan, 100k – 2 Mill
90% BK Buy-Out, Chapter 13
90% 50 Year Amortization, 580 Score

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San Diego auction: 67 cents on the dollar – Good stuff from the bottom of a Wall Street Journal article about the crisis at Countrywide: At an auction of foreclosed homes in San Diego over the weekend, the average price paid was 67% of the previous price paid for the home. “At a similar auction in San Diego in May, the average was 73%,” The Journal reports.- LA Times Blogs
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Report: Alt-A Delinquency Rate Nearing 18 Percent – …  The swift deterioration in Alt-A mortgages is taking place despite a low level of adjustable-rate Alt-A mortgages actually hitting a reset in the current period. The graph below, from the Clayton report, provides a look at Alt-A reset volume by month — note that very few Alt-A borrowers are  …Paul Jackson -  housingwire 

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read this options strategy – cool strategy for bondholders – BSC: Why Paying $5 Per Share for Bear Stearns Might Make Sense – William trent – Stock Market Beat

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Treasuries Safer Than Cash – Treasury yields are screaming lower. And although the stock market made a significant correction yesterday, the yield curve is still showing signs of extreme credit dislocations.  Curve Watcher’s Anonymous is noting something unusual today. Let’s take a look.  – globaleconomicanalysis 

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AMBAC FINANCIAL: CEO Asks Policyholders to Deal With Loss Issues – … Mr. Callen relates that (i) loss projections read and hear about are simply projections …  issues in Ambac’s portfolio arise largely from four transactions, the “CDO-squareds,” that account for the vast majority of our potential losses.  …  – Troubled Company Reporter

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Reverse Mortgage News Headlines – Several good articles to read at Reverse Mortgage Daily

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Paul Krugman Wonders Whether He Is Dumb. I Say: “NO!!”- talks about t-bill rates much lower than fed funds, and the possibility that t-bill rates go negative – quite interesting – Brad DeLong’s Weblog Archive Page

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One and Two Percent Days Becoming the Norm -  A whopping 44 of the last 90 trading days have been moves of 1% (+/-) or more in the S&P 500.  Fifteen of the last 90 trading days have been 2% days.  Below we provide a historical rolling 90-day sum of 1% and 2% days in the index. – Bespoke Invesment Group 

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IRA ARTMAN SECTION – 7 stories – thanks Ira

The Poster Child for Housing Excess: The City of Maricopa, AZ – Local Building Market Intelligence, March 2008 
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Forget the past and you make the same mistakes again – FT.com

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Housing Doldrums – By O. Emre Ergungor – FRB Cleveland

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What Is the Yield Curve Telling Us? – by Joseph G. Haubrich and Katie Corcoran – FRB Cleveland

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Even if Mr. Bernanke pulls it off, however, this is no way to run an economy. – PAUL KRUGMAN – Risk Moment RES

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(The value of ) Bernanke’s Own Home on Capitol Hill Shows Housing Boom and Bust – thanks Ira Artman   – Bloomberg

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Economic Environment for Housing Declines Again in February – thanks Ira Artman – Jim Haughey – Reed Construction Data

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posted by Bill Coppedge