This is a good compilation -  The Wisdom of Great Investors - Posted by Prieur du Plessis - Investment Postcards from Capetown
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Fitch Forecasts Major Global Recession for 2009 - Fitch Ratings predicts that the world’s major advanced economies - US, UK, Euro area and Japan - will next year experience the steepest decline in GDP since World War II. In aggregate GDP growth in these countries is expected to be (minus) -0.8% in 2009, compared to an estimated 1.1% for 2008, Fitch says in its latest Global Economic Outlook. - Reseach Recap

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Redwood Trust plain english 3rd quarter review - thanks Marty Rosenblatt - all of this is worth reading. -  look at graph on page 5 illustrating the psychological phases an investor goes through duringthe creation and the unraveling of bubbles - then go to page 29 to read Mark-to-Market Valuation Process 

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INTERVIEW-Hedge funds return to mark to model - By Laurence Fletcher -  LONDON (Reuters) - Hedge funds are starting to move back to the practice of marking complex structured credit instruments to their financial models because market prices are unreliable, says financial advisory firm Duff & Phelps.     - thanks Ira Artman
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Lenders See Fannie, Freddie Takeover as Needed - Paul Jackson - If perception is reality, early returns from a recent survey of key lenders suggests that both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may have been in worse condition that some of us might want to believe. A survey conducted by MORTECH LLC, a research firm, found that lenders overwhelmingly — to the tune of 75 percent of those surveyed — believe the government had good reason to intervene in the operations of the GSEs. - Housing Wire

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One-Month Treasuries Still Indicate Fear - The yield on the One-Month Treasury Note is currently at 0.09%, which is still extremely low by historical standards - Bespoke Investment Group

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Paper: “What are covered bonds?” by Richard J. Rosen - December 2008 Chicago Fed Letter (Number 257) -  4 pages  
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Speech by Governor Warsh on the promise and peril of the new financial architecture At the Money Marketeers of New York University, New York, New York  - FR Board
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S&P Cuts Ratings on $34.1 Billion in Alt-A RMBS - PAUL JACKSON - Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said late Wednesday that it had cut its ratings on 1,078 classes from 86 U.S. RMBS Alt-A deals issued in 2006 and 2007 — the latest blow to investors in an already battered mortgage market, and evidence that the nation’s mortgage crisis is moving up the proverbial value chain. In aggregate, the classes with lowered ratings had an original par amount of approximately $34.1 billion, which has been paid down to approximately $28 billion, S&P said. - housingwire 
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What to do if you’re upside down in your home - Barbara Mlotek Whelehan - 3 CFPs weigh in on what to do -  Bankrate.com

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CRA - What really caused the mortgage mess? - By HOLDEN LEWIS, bankrate.com - Scripps News 

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MBA Launches Reverse Mortgage Resource Center - John Yedinak - Earlier this week, the Mortgage Bankers Association launched their new Reverse Mortgage Resource Center (RMRC).  According to the website, the RMRC is designed to be your one location for the latest information on the growing reverse mortgage market.  When the MBA announced it was forming its task force in October, they said they would … - Reverse Mortgage Daily