Here Comes Another Bubble at youtube Thanks to Calculated Risk for finding this  

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Uncle Sam And Oil - Brian Wingfield - Guess who would win if the ban on offshore drilling is lifted? - … The U.S. Interior Department’s royalty rate for deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is 18.75%–up from 12.5% two years ago.  … - Forbes

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Subprime Losses Top $396 Billion on Brokers’ Writedowns: Table - Yalman Onaran - The following table shows the $396 billion in asset writedowns and credit losses at more than 100 of the world’s biggest banks and securities firms as well as the $302 billion capital raised in response.  - Bloomberg 

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RBS Predicts Global Market Crash: What’s In It For Them? - Grace Cheng - GraceCheng.com 

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Barney Frank Statement on Countrywide  - “First, this information confirms my view that one of the best things that can happen in our effort to deal with the subprime crisis is for Bank of America to conclude its purchase of Countrywide.” - also has a supportive statment regarding Senator Dodd - house.gov 

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Vice Chairman Donald L. Kohn - Risk management and its implications for systemic risk - Before the Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment, Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate - FED
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Hundreds swept up in mortgage fraud arrests - FBI estimates $1B in losses from mortgage fraud schemes nationwide  - By Lara Jakes Jordan and Alan Zibel - Associated Press   Yahoo

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The final days: BofA may swallow Countrywide by July 1 - … Countrywide shareholders are to meet on Wednesday at the firm’s Calabasas headquarters to vote on the deal. (Not that they have any real choice. … - Los Angeles Times 

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Bank of America’s Countrywide Bid Falls by $1 Billion - Ari Levy - … After four months of falling share prices, Bank of America’s stock swap is valued at $3 billion, compared with about $4 billion when the deal was announced on Jan. 11.  … - Bloomberg

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Wealthy Investors Shift Funds From Global Banks to Reduce Risks - Jeff Plungis - Bloomberg 

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Citi of Write-downs - Bank CFO Crittendon says that the Q2 amounts related to sub-prime mortgages and LBO loans will be less than the $6 billion Q1 write-downs. - Stephen Taub - CFO.com 

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Pimco’s Gross likes bank debt. -  Despite the woes of U.S. financial institutions, Pimco’s Bill Gross said Thursday he continues to hold the debt of Citigroup (C), Morgan (MS) and Goldman (GS) -  because they still offer great value. -  Reuters

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Global Central Bank Focus - Paul McCulley - A Kind Word for Inflation - PIMCO 

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White House veto threat to housing law - James Politi - FT.com 

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California -  Median home price in California drops 30% in May - The figure falls to $339,000, the steepest monthly decline in at least two decades. That’s drawing an influx of first-time buyers. -  AP - LA Times 

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IRA ARTMAN SECTION - thanks Ira:

Follow The Leader: Leading Index of Leading Economic Indicators May 2008 -  … It’s important to note that a year-over-year decline greater than 1.5% has ONLY preceded EVERY recession that has occurred in the last 59 years so the six significant consecutive year-over-year declines strongly suggests that overall the components of the index are indicating that recession is either here or very near. -  paper-money.blogspot.com 

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from Securitization.net
1.  SUPER-SENIOR RESECURITIZATIONS: A WAY TO ENHANCE AAA RMBS - DBRS

2.  EXPECTED LOSSES – CMBX SERIES 1-5 - In response to many investor requests over the past six months for our opinion on expected (i.e., most likely tooccur) losses in the last few CMBS vintages, DBRS conducted a detailed review of each of the transactionswithin CMBX Series 1-5. - DBRS

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Gulf Coast and Carolina Now the Strongest Housing Markets - Jim Haughey - Reed Constuction Data

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picture bankrate   Americans falling deeper in debt - By Dana Dratch • Bankrate.com

posted by Bill Coppedge