has a list – Financial Stocks: What Could Go Right  – Quite a bit, actually – Thomas Brown -   bankstocks.com
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Fund manager Einhorn awaits further price falls for distressed debt – Aline van Duyn – … We’re not there yet,” Mr Einhorn said in a video interview with the Financial Times. “We have not yet begun purchasing distressed debt.” … Mr Einhorn has been in the spotlight due to his bet that the shares of Lehman Brothers would fall. … – FT.com  

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The Housing Bill: Uncle Sam is moving into the spare bedroom – Andrew Horowitz – To be honest, I think it is unconscionable that the the U.S. government is now going to “own” a portion of the greatest asset that most people will ever have.  Of course that is only after lenders “volunteer” to write-off a portion of what they are due to help out borrowers. Also, with that, Senators also asked Santa for a new train set and a puppy for Christmas. – The Disciplined Investor

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The Garage Sale Indicator – Gigaom.com writer Chris Albrecht recently contacted Craigslist to see if he could quantify his anecdotal evidence that the number of garage sales are up dramatically this summer.  … As shown in Gigaom.com’s chart below, the number of garage sale listings on Craigslist were up 100% in May 2008 compared to May 2007. – Bespoke Investment Group

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Economists Weigh Possibility of a Recession Amid Economic Growth – SUDEEP REDDY – thanks Carolyn Coppedge   – Wall Street Journal

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has details – Paulson unveils new mortgage plan – Colin Barr – Four big banks sign onto the ‘covered bond’ concept in a new bid to ease the strains in U.S. mortgage markets. … Citi, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo … -  CNN Money Fortune

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Commercial Properties Feel Pain Of Wall Street’s Breakdown – Cliff Mendelson – good overall look at CMBS market breakdown … Currently, there is a terrible breakdown of trust between counter-parties that has been caused by the combination of money chasing yield and the approximate tenfold increase in debt issuance over a very short time frame.   … – Mortgage Orb 
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Politics of Foreign Debt – Part I: Why Republicans and Democrats had to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – … When I was interviewed last year by German Public Radio my interviewer, besides expressing surprise at absurdly low prices in New York City where the interview took place, wondered why Americans tolerated US government subsidies of the US real estate industry via institutions and tax policies that the German constitution, as most European constitutions including the French, forbid. … – ITulip.com 

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IMF Paper: What Goes Up Must Come Down? – House Price Dynamics in the United States – Vladimir Klyuev – … despite recent declines, single-family homes remained 8 to 20 percent overvalued as of the first quarter of 2008.  … – thanks Margo – 31 pages IMF.org

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Securitization Accounting: Later Rather Than Sooner?  – On Wednesday, the FASB will take another look at the effective date to be inserted into the exposure draft of the forthcoming amendments to Statement 140 and Interpretation 46R. … In other words, after these amendments go into effect, firms might still securitize loans – but the loans will still exist on their balance sheets … The likelihood of these amendments being in place by year-end is getting pretty slim. … – Jack Ciesielski – AccountingObserver.com 

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Bank Bond Risk Rises as Merrill CDO Sales Spark Loss Concern – Abagail Moses -  The cost of protecting bank bonds from default rose after Merrill Lynch & Co. said it’s selling mortgage-backed collateralized debt obligations at a fifth of their face value and taking $5.7 billion of writedowns.  – Bloomberg 
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US credit crisis is hitting the wealthy – Francesco Guerrera and Saskia Scholtes – The US financial crisis is spreading from subprime borrowers to wealthier consumers, with evidence mounting that more affluent people are failing to pay their mortgages and credit card balances.  – FT.com