PIMCO’s May 2008 Investment Outlook, “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Bill Gross is now available at PIMCO
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Ex-Fed official criticizes Bear Stearns rescue: report - … “worst policy mistake in a generation,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.  Vincent Reinhart, who used to be the Fed’s director of monetary affairs and the secretary of its policy making panel, said  … - Reuters

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Link to S&P paper on reverse mortgages - required reading - thanks John Yedinak - at Reverse Mortgage Daily  

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explains securitization and how to fix it - How to Revive Securitization Markets - By ROBERT C. POZEN - Wall Street Journal
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Cities: The Least Bad Part of US Real Estate - As a general rule, if you get the opportunity to hear Sam Zell speak, you should take it. He was on the real estate panel today, and he didn’t disappoint. … Zell started off by blaming the government, at least in part, for the current housing crunch. Every time over the past 40 years that the government decided that they wanted to increase homeownership over 62%, he said, there’s been a disaster.  … - Felix Salmon - portfolio.com 

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Fannie Mae chief sees no mortgage recovery until 2010 - Reuters 

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Restructuring in housing predicted for the future - … Baby boomers miscalculated. They did not plan well for retirement. They’ll see their income falling. They’ll be trading out and trading down on a scale like you never saw before,” Otteau said.  Generation Y has little or no interest in suburban locations like their parents. They want a downtown which simulates a college campus lifestyle, Otteau said. … -  Courier-Post NJ

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How Low Will Real Estate Go? - Matt Woolsey - Forbes 

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I’M NOT DEAD! - You may recall that line from the 1970s cult classic, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. A sickly medieval peasant, nonetheless alive, struggles to convince a neighbor — who’s putting him out for dead — that he hasn’t quite expired. - Richard DeKaser -  National City Insights 

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Mortgage Delinquencies To Jump 34 Percent By Year End: TransUnion - PAUL JACKSON - housingwire

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LOOK AT THIS: The Fed plus A New Chart on Cumberland ’s website - … We have attempted to show the distribution of the new tools that the Federal Reserve has introduced.  For reference and comparison, we show the array of tools in use prior to the turmoil commencement last summer.  We are using the Fed’s weekly reserve report as the source; it is released every Thursday afternoon.   … Cumberland Advisors
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$536 Billion Worth of Household Assets Evaporated in February? - … Case-Shiller house price index for 20 major metropolitan areas fell 2.66% month-to-month in February … - FXstreet.com

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Speech – Nason on Treasury Blueprint for a Modernized Regulatory Structure - The following is a speech by Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions David G. Nason on Treasury’s Blueprint for a Modernized Regulatory Structure. - riskcenter.com free reg.

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S&P Cuts Recovery Assumptions for Subprime-Backed CDOs - … S&P now expects zero recovery in the event of default for the affected CDOs rated A or lower. For CDOs rated AA, the expected recovery-on-default assumption is 5% , for Junior AAA it is 35% and for Senior AAA it is 60%. … - Research Recap

2 From IRA ARTMAN - thanks Ira:

U.S. Unsold New Homes Inventory Climbs to 11 Months  thanks Ira Artman - Reed Cosntruction Data 

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Top story: Fair value didn’t spawn credit crisis, say standard-setters - Nicholas Rummell - IASB, FASB officials defend mark-to-market valuations, off-balance-sheet rules; credit crunch is not Enron  - Financial Week

posted by Bill Coppedge