What’s More Important than Fair Value? Plenty - Marie Leone - Global financial experts are more keen on reining in securitization than stamping out fair value. - CFO.com 

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Do Moratoria Simply Delay The Inevitable?  - by John Clapp - No fewer than four state governors have said they would consider it. President Obama made it a central part of his election campaign’s economic platform. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have implemented their own, as have several financial institutions. - MortgageOrb
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Murray reportedly moves to raise loan limits - U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., plans to introduce a measure raising the limit on loans that mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may buy or guarantee, according to a Dow Jones Newswires story. … Last year’s temporary measure allowed Fannie and Freddie to buy loans up to 125 percent of an area’s median price, with a ceiling of $729,500 …  - Seattle PI 

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When someone tells you they are seeking stabilization in the housing markets, show them this graph! - by Reggie Middleton - Boom Bust Blog

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Unintended Consequences on Executive Pay I: Golden Parachutes - Heritage.org 
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San Diego: Higher-end home sales are slipping - By Roger Showley - has numbers - San Diego UT 

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Volcker Suggests Ways to Refine Bank Regulations - By SHARON OTTERMAN - … In testimony before the Senate Banking committee, Mr. Volcker called for the end of the mortgage lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as hybrid public-private enterprises, saying instead that Washington should assist borrowers through “clearly designated government agencies.” … - NY Times
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Where’s All The Money? - Liz Moyer - Neil Barofsky, TARP’s special inspector general, will try to lift the veil on the massive banking bailout program. - Forbes
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3 excellent articles at Financial Times: 

1.  Consensus crumbles at Davos - The World Economic Forum provides little guidance for emerging from the current economic gloom 

2.  Soros on the credit crunch - The financier who predicted the global crisis attributes his effectiveness to his views on knowledge and misconceptions.

3.  Interview with Wen Jiabao -  The Chinese premier pledges ‘extraordinary’ measures to protect his populace from a downturn rooted in the west’s excesses. 

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Lawsuits like this could mean a lot more headaches - thanks X - Wells Fargo and Rels Valuation Face Potential Home Evaluation Class Action - Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro - Two homeowners in Phoenix recently filed a lawsuit against Wells Fargo and its appraisal subsidiary Rels Valuation, claiming the mortgage giant illegally rigged the appraisal process and referred appraisal business to its subsidiary in a scheme to boost profits at the expense of homeowners. The lawsuit, filed under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Practices Act (RICO), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and state law … - Lawyers and Settlements.com