Fair-Value Tweaks Afoot? - By Sarah Johnson - Investors apparently think so, rewarding financial firms’ stocks today based on speculation that the stimulus package will bring changes to mark-to-market accounting. - CFO.com
————

an incredible collection of videos:  Video-o-rama: Stimulus ad nauseum - Posted by Prieur du Plessis - Investment Postcards from Cape Town
————

Home Equity’s Harsh Impact On Consumption - Bruce Bartlett - Why this recession is unique in the postwar years. - Forbes
————

N.Y.C. so costly you need to earn six figures to make middle class - BY Elizabeth Hays - …The study, released Thursday by the Center for an Urban Future, shows that New York City is hands-down the most expensive place to live in the country.  Among the findings: (has several) - NY DAILY NEWS  - thanks MK 

————
End the Fed - by Ron Paul - Before the US House of Representatives, February 4, 2009, introducing the The Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act, H.R. 833. - LewRockwell.com 

————

Housing Appraisals: Still Blowing Bubbles? - By Chad Terhune  - Third-party appraisal managers are supposed to eliminate pressure from lenders to inflate housing values. But unscrupulous subprime players are crowding into the market - BusinessWeek 
————

Worried about inflation in the future? Consider TIPS - John Waggoner - Current investment wisdom holds that the four horsemen of the apocalypse — pestilence, war, famine and Keanu Reeves — will soon be joined by a fifth rider: inflation. - USA Today
————

Ken Lewis has guts - Lewis on BofA’s Future: ‘A Thing of Beauty’ - By KELLY CURRAN - Strong and resilient was the message CEO Ken Lewis gave of Bank of America Corp. in a televised interview with CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo Friday. “This company’s going to be a thing of beauty as we get to the other side of this [economic downturn] and it will be the envy of the financial services industry in terms of market shares,” Lewis said. In a bold and likely surprising statement, Lewis said Bank of America expects to pay… - housingwire
————

1.  Banker Bashing Gives Cover to Far Bigger Culprits: David Reilly - Banker bashing is great sport. It satisfies the populist need for an identifiable villain in the financial crisis. It provides an outlet for our collective anger. It absolves us from thinking about just how we — the credit-card-loving, mortgage-craving, debt-addicted consumers of America — helped foment the meltdown. - Bloomberg

2.  Wells Fargo May Cut Loans for Some Wachovia Customers - By Ari Levy - Wells Fargo & Co., the second-biggest U.S. home lender, offered to cut mortgage balances for some Wachovia Corp. customers by 20 percent as defaults rise and officials pressure banks to modify loans to avoid foreclosures - Bloomberg

————

Late Payments on US Credit Cards Reach Record High Levels - Growing signs of trouble in the credit card debt sector are documented in Fitch ratings’ latest monthly Credit Card Movers & Shakers report. However, Fitch does not expect many negative ratings actions in the short term - Research Recap