New Reverse Mortgage Loan Limits Update - John Yedinak - The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) just sent out an email confirming that the new HECM loan limit will be $417,000.  Right now the target date is November 1st, but this is not a set deadline, just a target date.  - Reverse Mortgage Daily

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Bair Turns Once-Obscure FDIC Into Power Center in Bank Crisis - Alison Fitzgerald and Alison Vekshin - … “She has more power because of the situation on the ground,” said Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat. “No one is going to put handcuffs on her.”   “She’s going to be Treasury secretary someday,” said Tim Adams, a former department undersecretary under President George W. Bush who worked with Bair when she was an assistant secretary. … - Bloomberg 
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Can Buffett Rescue the Market? - The billionaire investor’s forays into GE and Goldman may restore some calm, but he can’t turn the tide of the financial crisis all by himself - by Ben Steverman - BusinessWeek
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political pressure? - Fannie Mae backs off on fee hike - … Fannie Mae said Thursday that a fee introduced last year will remain at 0.25 percent of the total loan amount. It had been scheduled to rise to 0.5 percent on Nov. 1. For a $200,000 loan, that’s a savings of $500.  … -    CNNMoney.com

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look at the table - Global liquidity crisis: What now? - Prier DuPlessis - This post considers the likelihood of three possible outcomes of the bail-out plan and its effect on the global economy, financial markets and currencies. - … In order to ensure the New Deal lends enough impetus to the economy and largely prevents disinflation or deflation, the Fed and other central banks will have to relax their monetary policies considerably and reduce their bank rates aggressively. This will be necessary in especially the coming months, as inflation rates in First World economies in particular will decline sharply owing to lower oil and other commodity prices. … - Investment Postcards from Capetown

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In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we comment on the Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) Wachovia Bank (NYSE:WB) transaction, the impending passage of the federal bailout package, and the prospect of a legal confrontation between the FDIC and the Federal Home Loan Banks. Will the last, largest GSE require a federal bailout?  by Christopher Whalen

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Some Good News - Jean-Claude Kommer - The Treasury took in $33 million in premium fees related to the temporary money market guarantee facility. The total for the month so far is $40 million.  A rather cheap CDS considering that the Fed is funding $152 billion via the Asset-backed commercial paper money market mutual fund liquidity facility. - Alea Blog

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PMI is pleased to provide our Fall 2008 Economic and Real Estate Trends (ERET) report. … Each quarterly issue presents commentary on the national economy and regional trends in the form of two indexes of particular interest in this challenging market:  1.  PMI’s U.S. Market Risk Index, which measures the likelihood of home price declines within two years for each of the nation’s 381 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and divisions.  2.  PMI’s proprietary Affordability IndexSM, which measures how affordable homes are today
relative to a baseline of 1995. …  thanks Tom Taggert 

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Regional, local banks see opportunity in Wachovia’s fall - Lee Weisbecker  - … Run-off is an inevitable fact of life in the wake of large bank mergers. Usually, the acquiring bank can expect to lose up to 15 percent of deposits. In the case of Wachovia, which was the Triangle’s No. 1 bank with deposits of $6.14 billion as of June 2007, that’s a cool $750 million up for grabs.  “But in this case, I think the number will go well over 15 percent,” says University of North Carolina at Charlotte finance professor Tony Plath. “Let’s cut to the chase here. Fact is, a lot of people won’t do business with a Yankee bank.” … - Triangle Business Journal
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BlackRock, Pimco Seek to Run $700 Billion U.S. Pool - Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam - BlackRock Inc., Pacific Investment Management Co. and Legg Mason Inc. informally advised the U.S. Treasury prior to passage of its $700 billion financial-rescue plan and will seek contracts to manage some of the assets, according to people familiar with the matter. The Treasury will choose five to 10 investment firms to help it acquire troubled securities from financial companies, - - Bloomberg
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Unemployment Numbers: THE DIE IS CAST - James Picerno - Capital Spectator
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Rich and Poor Have Same Economic Views - thanks Margo -  … “Even if government wanted to respond only to the interests of the rich, it couldn’t, because the rich and the poor tend to share similar political viewpoints — at least on economic issues,” said North Carolina State University political science researcher Chris Ellis.  … - LiveScience Staff

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Interesting Retort - Letter to the Editor - At the Root of the Subprime Mess - Washington Post 

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John Mauldin on the bailout and the economy ahead - The Curve in the Road - John Mauldin’s Weekly E-Letter 

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1.  Homeownership push seen as top culprit in crisis - Greg Griffin - … The rate of homeownership in the United States climbed from about 64 percent in 1995 to 69 percent in 2007, in large part due to the government’s push to promote homeownership among low-income households, according to an analysis by University of Colorado real-estate professor Tom Thibodeau. Accompanying that increase was an erosion in decades-old lending standards that had reduced bank risk and the dramatic growth of the subprime mortgage sector … -  Denver Post

2.  U.S. mess started with Carter - SALIM MANSUR - The story of man’s fall is in part the history of unintended effects of his initial actions. … - Toronto Sun
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Will Paulson’s Two Plans Unplug the ‘Liquidity Trap’? - Mark Sunshine - … With hardly anyone noticing, on Wednesday he pushed through very technical and obscure changes to tax regulations that provide a “tax subsidy” for acquirers of troubled banks.  … Everyone can thank Hank Paulson and his stealth tax-driven fiscal stimulus for the astonishing news that Wachovia was being acquired by Wells Fargo and not Citigroup. It was Mr. Paulson’s tax subsidy to Wells Fargo that provided the fiscal grease to make this deal happen … - thanks Rob Coppedge - NY Times Blogs 

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IRA ARTMAN SECTION - thanks Ira:

A Weary Titan? - David Warsh - thoughts on the coming economic and political competition of US and China - Economic Principals
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1.  Reference: save and bookmark this - Economics Roundtable - has postings of many economists 
2.  Reference: save and bookmark this - Economics Roundtable Housing Crash - many economists on housing crash