Calculator to save you money on gasoline:  How to Save Money on Gas, Without Driving Less - We’re stealing part of our post title from Jim Hamilton, as he unofficially commissioned this tool in the comments section of his blog post! … Meanwhile, as Jim notes, your car will burn more fuel at slower speeds compared to higher speeds, as automakers have optimized your car’s engine to operate most efficiently at higher speeds.  Somewhere in between lies a sweet spot into which you can get the most distance driving out for your fuel consumption dollar. - thanks Susan Kulakowski - PoliticalCalculations

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LaSalle Is BofA’s Other Vexing Deal - Countrywide Aside, This Pact Boosted Problem-Loan Load - LINGLING WEI and VALERIE BAUERLEIN - WSJ 

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MANHATTAN HIGH ROLLERS’ HIGH-RI$E HEAVEN - BRADEN KEIL - … Prices for condos and co-ops have shot up as much as 36 percent in the past year to an average price of $1.66 million.  .. - NY Post

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Critics blame Countrywide’s Angelo Mozilo for housing fiasco - Seattle Times

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Good reference primer on mortgage pipeline / servicing hedging - Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Hedging… Andrew J. Schell and David Hopson - Mortgage Orb 
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Tread Carefully - A credit downturn should be familiar territory for banks. Think again. - The Economist - CFO.com 
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Fitch to Add Loss Severity Metric to Structured Finance Ratings - Fitch Ratings intends to add a measure of the severity of potential losses to its ratings of structured finance instruments. Fitch also is adding a measure of collateral quality and a “Rating Outlook” for all such instruments, in an effort to add greater clarity to its ratings. - Research Recap

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Condo downside:  HOAs squeezed by housing downturn - Delinquent fees, foreclosures add to burden on remaining residents -  Sebastian Montes - Gazette.net 

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worth reading - THE EXTRAORDINARILY SHORT LIFE OF EXTRAORDINARY RETURNS ON HOUSING -  thanks Ira A and Susan K -  DBRS  

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Mortgage modifications dip in May - … Mortgage servicing companies negotiated new payment plans with about 100,000 troubled homeowners, and changed the terms on another 70,000, the Hope Now alliance said on Wednesday…. - Reuters 
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CRL Releases Report “Indymac: What Went Wrong?” - As IndyMac Bancorp battles questions about its financial stability, a new report from the Center for Responsible Lending provides evidence that IndyMac put itself in a hole by engaging in unsound and abusive lending during the nation’s mortgage boom.  - Originator Times      Read the report 
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Understanding Bernanke - Option Armagaddeon - thanks Rolfe - ML Implode 

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PMI Summer 2008 Risk Index Indicates Risk Intensifying in Areas With Previous Rapid Home Price Growth - A complete copy of the Summer 2008 PMI ERET report and an appendix that provides data for all 381 U.S. MSAs is available at: PMI .  Thanks Nate Purpura.
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National Economic Update - Difficult Adjustments and Decisions - Those of us who live and work in the United States are contending with three challenging economic adjustments. - FRB Dallas

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IRA ARTMAN SECTION - thanks Ira:

Carolina and Gulf Coasts Remain the Strongest Housing Markets - Jim Haughey - Reed Construction Data

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Sales still falling in Manhattan - … Real estate and appraisal company Miller Samuel, in a quarterly report prepared for Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate, reported that sales of all co-ops and condos fell 21.8 percent in the second quarter compared to the same quarter last year, with inventory swelling 31.2 percent and the median sale price rising 14.5 percent.  … - Inman News 

   posted by Bill Coppedge