BofA Sees Higher Losses on Home Equity Loans: Report - PAUL JACKSON - housingwire

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A Wish List for Fixing Wall Street - ANDREW ROSS SORKIN -  Kenneth C. Griffin, who runs one of the biggest and most successful hedge fund firms, has a blunt assessment: “We, as an industry, dropped the ball.”   The breakdown happened, Mr. Griffin contends, when big investment banks gambled away money and jobs during the late great credit boom. The bosses let all those young gung-ho traders take far too many risks and now everyone is paying the price.  But the answer is simple, in his view. The entire industry needs to overhaul its thinking and, believe it or not, perhaps even accept greater regulation. - NY Times

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DIMON RESCUES 50% OF BEAR STAFF - PAUL THARP -  NY Post 

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Survey: 1 in 10 boomers borrowing for everyday expenses - Chicago Tribune 

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Home Prices Decline in Two-Thirds of U.S. Cities as Foreclosures Increase -  he median price for a single-family home in the U.S. dropped 7.7 percent in the first quarter, the biggest decline in at least 29 years, as values tumbled in two- thirds of U.S. cities, the National Association of Realtors said. - Bloomberg
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Bernanke Says Fed to Boost Loans to Banks as Needed - Bloomberg 

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Median home prices drop in many cities - The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that median prices for existing single-family homes dropped in 100 of 149 metropolitan areas in the January-March period, while 48 metropolitan areas saw price increases and one reported no change. - Moneycentral MSN

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Round Two - Home Price Erosion - It appears that median home values as of 3/31/08 were probably 15%-20% above sustainable norms, though we may not observe the full adjustment in just one cycle. - John Hussman - Hussman Investment Trust  http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc080512.htm
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Economists See Housing Weakness Until 2010 - Wall Street Journal Blogs 

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Lenders offer little help in foreclosures - Companies ill-equipped to handle surge of distressed homeowners -

Three times, Thomas and Tracy Barboza found a path out of foreclosure. Three times, their lender failed to help them. - Boston.com 

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Reverse Mortgages: No Holds Barred - IndyMac Smack Down, What About Financial Freedom? -  Reverse Mortgage Daily 

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STATEMENT OF OFHEO DIRECTOR JAMES B. LOCKHART  - “Freddie Mac today announced plans to raise a significant amount of common and preferred capital per the March 19, 2008 agreement with OFHEO - … raise significant additional capital. As indicated in the agreement, OFHEO intends to reduce the OFHEO-directed requirement to 15 percent  … - OFHEO.gov 

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Credit crunch: how we got here and how to get out - James Hamilton -  Fed Chair Ben Bernanke on Tuesday offered his perspective on the appropriate response of the Fed to the ongoing turmoil in financial markets. I still think he’s overlooking a key element of what’s been happening. - Econbrowser

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Congress And The Credit Crisis - Joshua Zumbrun - Lawmakers have two questions about where the economy is going. -  Forbes

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new mREIT - American Capital Agency IPO: Betting on the Future of Residential Mortgages - seeking alpha

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Wealth Accumulation for Homeowners - Danielle Hale - thanks Ira Artman - National Association of REALTORS  

posted by Bill Coppedge