WORTH READING: What the Export Land Model Means for Energy Prices by David Galland - John Mauldin’s Outside the Box E-Letter

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Soaring Foreclosure Numbers Mean More Prey for Vulture Funds -  Banks Desperate to Unload Distressed Properties Turn to Private Equity Firms -  NED RANDOLPH - San Diego Busines Journal 

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The latest from … Mike Morgan: Decession or Depression? - Michael Shedlock - globaleconomicanalysis

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SoCal real estate in April: rising sales, flat prices - Tim Iacono -   themessthatgreenspanmade

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Medicare is a much bigger problem than Social Security … Taxpayers are on the hook for a record $57.3 trillion in federal liabilities to cover the lifetime benefits of everyone eligible for Medicare, Social Security and other government programs… USA TODAY 

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GMR Letter - Randolph Buss -  DINL.net 

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Working Families and Economic Insecurity in the States: The Role of Job Quality and Work Supports - … synthesizes previous CEPR research using a new approach for measuring economic insecurity that addresses the major limitations of the poverty line and analyzes the state of economically insecure families across 45 states and the District of Columbia.  - cepr.net
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America’s Most Expensive Homes - Matt Woolsey -  The country’s hottest high-end properties are as extraordinary as their asking prices. - Forbes 

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More Servicers Turning to REO Auctions: Fitch - As REO inventory piles up nationwide, more and more servicers are turning to auctions as a disposition method despite the higher loss severity usually associated with the process… - housingwire

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The CDO business behind the bulk of the losses at UBS -  In March 2006, James Stehli was moderating a session at the 10th Annual Issuers and Investors Summit on Collateralised Debt Obligations and Credit Derivatives in New York. The session covered the CDO market and was entitled Is it all as it should be? - Wealth-Bulletin 

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The Credit Crunch Effects Yet to Come - Kevin LaCroix - In my preceding post, I quoted Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson about the current credit crunch. Billionaires Warren Buffett and George Soros apparently have a less sanguine view, and there is in any event substantial recent evidence to support the view that, whether or not the worst is over, the effects will be felt for some time to come.
- D&O Diary

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Troubles for a Thrift Institution, Despite Warnings of Its Founder - ERIC DASH - Lewis S. Ranieri, a pioneer of the mortgage bond industry, spent the last few years warning anyone who would listen that the housing market was about to collapse. - But the Franklin Bank Corporation, a small Texas thrift institution that Mr. Ranieri founded and oversaw as chairman, appears to have ignored his admonitions. - NY Times

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Homes are biggest bargain since 2004 - Falling prices opened up home buying for many more Americans. - CNN Money

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US Credit Card Industry Moving into Uncharted Territory - The combination of slumping housing prices and rising unemployment risks puts the credit card industry into uncharted territory, according to Moody’s. - Research Recap

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about Equity Key and REX Agreement - Cash-strapped homeowners eye equity sharing - Reverse mortgage alternatives charge zero interest, reduce upfront costs - Tom Kelly - Inman News

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IRA ARTMAN SECTION - thanks Ira

1.  A New Moody’s Rating Scandal -  The FT has an explosive story today about the market in CPDOs, and the way that Moody’s, in particular, rated them. … ABN Amro issued a few securities, which Moody’s rated triple-A. But when Moody’s went back to double-check its calculations, it found a bug in the computer code used to generate that rating. When the bug was fixed, it turned out that the securities in question should have been rated four notches lower. …  - Felix Salmon - portfolio.com 
2.  Moody’s error gave top ratings to debt products -  Sam Jones, Gillian Tett and Paul J Davies in London  - FT.com

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Greenspan Helped Pimco Make Billions, Gross Says - ah .. the irony …  Bloomberg 

posted by Bill Coppedge