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20080214

Home - Building - History - "Property at heart of financial storm." ... "Real estate is at the very centre of the financial storm that has dragged the US economy close, if not into, recession." ... "The median price of an existing single family home fell 1.8 per cent last year, the first decline since records began 40 years ago, and probably the first since the Great Depression, the National Association of Realtors has said." ... "A large part of the problem has been the overbuilding of homes. In December the supply of new homes hit its highest level since 1981, while sales of new homes hit their slowest pace since 1994, according to the US Census Bureau." ... "Unsurprisingly, the homebuilding industry has been hit hard. Public homebuilders have chalked up more than $20bn in losses on land and buildings they own, based on data from Standard & Poor’s." -By Daniel Pimlott -FT.com
Peoples - Housing - Safety - Emergency - Politics - Government - Science - Investigators - Censorship - Hurricane Katrina - Hurricane Rita - Weather - "CDC Confirms Health Risks to Occupants of Trailers." ... "Federal health officials have confirmed that high levels of formaldehyde gas pose health risks to hurricane victims housed in 38,000 government trailers on the Gulf Coast, and will recommend that occupants be moved before temperatures rise this spring and summer, [Republican President] Bush administration officials disclosed yesterday." ... "The findings cap nearly two years of internal government deliberation over the housing of hurricane Katrina and Rita survivors in the trailers, and come 23 months after FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency ] first received reports of health problems and test results showing formaldehyde levels at 75 times the U.S.[United States]-recommended workplace safety threshold." ... "[Mississippi Democratic Representative] Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, criticized what he depicted as the [Repblican President] Bush administration's tardy response." ... "FEMA announced plans in July to test the occupied trailers after congressional investigators accused it of suppressing internal warnings about the problem. Testing finally began in late December." -By Spencer S. Hsu -WashingtonPost

20080213

US - Global - Home - History - "Global Confidence Weakens for Third Month on Slowdown (Update1)." ... "Global stocks have lost more than $6 trillion this year as credit dried up for some borrowers and the U.S. [United States] expansion stalled." ... "Home sales in the world's largest economy fell at the fastest pace since at least 1963." ... "Financial institutions around the world face $400 billion of write-offs as a consequence of the U.S. subprime mortgage slump, according to Group of Seven estimates, German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said on Feb. [February] 9." ... "UBS AG, Europe's largest bank by assets, last month posted the biggest loss ever by a bank after raising fourth-quarter writedowns to $14 billion. The world's biggest financial companies have booked more than $145 billion of writedowns and losses since the beginning of 2007, partly because of the declining value of securities backed by assets including U.S. subprime mortgages." ... "The S&P [Standard & Poor's] 500, the benchmark U.S. index, declined 8.1 percent this year to 1348.86 yesterday." -By Ben Sills and Paul Tobin -Bloomberg

20080206

Emergency - Tennessee - Alabama - Kentucky - Arkansas - People - Homes - History - "Tornadoes in South Kill 50 in Rare Winter Strike (Update10)." ... "The deadliest tornado outbreak in almost a decade tore across the southern U.S. [United States] late yesterday, killing at least 50 people, sparking a pipeline explosion in Tennessee and destroying homes from Alabama to Kentucky." ... "The ``extremely dangerous'' tornadoes, spawned by unseasonably warm temperatures, prompted the first high-risk weather alert issued in February in 10 years, AccuWeather.com said." ... "``Tornadoes in February, especially this many and this strong, is a rare event,'' Buddy Rogers, spokesman for the Kentucky Emergency Management Office, said by phone." ... "The twisters first struck in the late afternoon, killing 26 people in Tennessee, 13 in Arkansas, seven in Kentucky and four in Alabama, the Associated Press reported, citing emergency officials." -By Demian McLean -Bloomberg

20080201

Jobs - History - Manufacturers - Construction- Housing - Government - "U.S. Economy Suffers Another Body Blow." ... "Nervous employers cut 17,000 jobs in January - the first such reduction in more than four years and a fresh trouble sign that the U.S. [United States] economy is in danger of stalling." ... ""It's very unusual for the economy to lose jobs, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's economy.com. "It only happens during recession," he told CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason. "So the fact that we lost jobs is very symbolic and suggests that the economy is in recession."" ... "Job losses were widespread. Manufacturers, construction firms and a variety of professional and business services eliminated jobs in January - reflecting the toll of the housing and credit debacles. The government cut jobs, too." ... "Although the unemployment rate declined a notch, from 5 percent in December to 4.9 percent in January, the jobless rate - calculated from a different statistical survey than the payroll figures - dipped as people left the labor force for any number of reasons. " -AP via -CBSNews

20080130

John Edwards - Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - New Orleans - Louisiana - Poverty - Homeless - People - Health Care - US - Iraq - Military - Money - 2008 Election - "Democrat Edwards exits presidential race: Clinton, Obama praise ex-rival, who refrains from endorsing one or other." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Democrat John Edwards bowed out of the race for the White House on Wednesday, saying it was time to step aside “so that history can blaze its path” in a campaign now left to [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Rodham Clinton and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama." ... ""It is time for me to step aside," said Edwards, ending his second campaign in a hurricane-ravaged section of New Orleans [Louisiana] where he began it more than a year ago. “With our convictions and a little backbone we will take back the White House in November.”" ... "Edwards said Clinton and Obama had both pledged that “they will make ending poverty central to their campaign for the presidency.”" ... "“This is the cause of my life and I now have their commitment to engage in this cause,” he said before a small group of supporters. He was joined by his wife Elizabeth and his three children, Cate, Emma Claire and Jack." ... "Edwards said that on his way to make his campaign-ending statement, he drove by a highway underpass where several homeless people live. He stopped to talk, he said, and as he was leaving, one of them asked him never to forget them and their plight." ... "“Well I say to her and I say to all those who are struggling in this country, we will never forget you. We will fight for you. We will stand up for you,” he said, pledging to continue his campaign-long effort to end what he frequently said was “two Americas,” one for the powerful, the other for the rest." ... "Edwards burst out of the starting gate with a flurry of progressive policy ideas — he was the first to offer a plan for universal health care, the first to call on Congress to pull funding for the [Iraq] war, and he led the charge that lobbyists have too much power in Washington and need to be reigned in." (1, 2) -AP via -MSNBC

20080124

Home - Economy - "Home Prices Fell in ’07 for First Time in Decades." ... "In 2007, the median price of an American single-family home fell for the first time in at least four decades, according to the National Association of Realtors, a trade group." ... "The median price declined 1.8 percent to $217,800, the first annual decline since reliable records began in 1968. It's the first price decline in many, many years and possibly going back to the Great Depression, said the group's chief economist, Lawrence Yun." ... "Over all, sales of previously owned single-family homes fell 13 percent in 2007, the biggest drop in a quarter-century. Last month alone, home sales dipped 2.2 percent from November, to a 4.89 million annual rate. (The group s survey excludes newly constructed homes.)" -By Michael M. Grynbaum -NYTimes

20080122

US - World - Housing - Labor - History - "Fed cuts rates sharply, other central banks under pressure to follow." ... "The Federal Reserve made a surprise cut in US [United States] interest rates, slashing its Fed funds rate target by 0.75 percentage points to 3.50 pct [percent] amid growing fears of a US recession and steep falls on world stock markets." ... "It said the rate cut had been decided 'in view of a weakening of the economic outlook and increasing downside risks to growth'." ... "The Fed funds rate cut was the first between regular meetings since Sept 2001 and the biggest easing move since the 1980's." ... "The Fed also cut its discount rate by the same margin to 4.00 pct." ... "Even with these rate cuts, the Fed said 'appreciable downside risks to growth remain' and added that it will 'act in a timely manner as needed to address those risks'." ... "'While strains in short-term funding markets have eased somewhat, broader financial market conditions have continued to deteriorate and credit has tightened further for some businesses and households,' it said." ... "The Federal Open Market Committee also said it saw a 'deepening of the housing contraction as well as some softening in labour markets'." ... "The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 465 points at the start of the session but later recovered to a post a loss of around 200 points." -Thomson via -CNN

20080117

John Edwards - Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - Money - Drug - Oil - 2008 Election - Health - Home - Law - Union - Nevada - "Edwards sharpens criticism of Clinton, Obama." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards sharpened his criticism of Democratic [2008 Election Presidential Candidate] front-runners Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama Thursday night, saying they are helping turn the party into the champion of special interests." ... "“When did our party change? When did we become the party that took more money from drug companies and insurance companies than the Republicans?” Edwards asked." ... "“Not when I'm president of the United States” he told hundreds of supporters who jammed a Reno [Nevada] union hall Thursday night." ... "“The person who raised the most money from oil and gas companies is not a Republican. It's a Democrat. It's [Senator] Sen. Clinton,” Edwards said." ... "The party's 2004 vice presidential candidate said the contributions make his primary opponents beholden to big corporations, causing them to compromise on such things as health care reform and [home] mortgage foreclosures." ... "“You can't take these people's money and challenge them and fight them in a way that is going to be necessary to bring about change,” Edwards said." ... "“We desperately need universal health care for every man, woman and child in this country. Sen. Obama's plan is not universal. It leaves as many as 15 million Americans uncovered,” he said." ... "Edwards said he supports Clinton's call to freeze interest rates for five years and place a moratorium on [home] foreclosures for 90 days but “we have to do more than that.”" ... "“What she has not called for, because the mortgage lending industry is against it, is allowing the bankruptcy court to restructure these loans. We need to give the bankruptcy court the power to restructure these loans,” he said. " -By Scott Sonner with contributions by Ryan Nakashima -AP via -SignOnSanDiego.com
Manufacturing - Housing - Technology - "Dow Plunges More Than 300 Points on Grim Outlook." ... "Stock markets plunged on Thursday as investors confronted a troubling manufacturing report and new indications of the depth of subprime losses and housing woes. The Dow Jones industrial average lost more than 300 points." ... "The Standard and Poor’s 500-stock index, a broad measure of the financial markets, tumbled below its low for last year, set in March. At the close, it was down 2.9 percent after giving up early morning gains, bringing its decline since Jan. 1 to 9.2 percent." ... "The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 306.95 points, or 2.5 percent, at 12,159.21, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index was off 2 percent." -By Michael M. Grynbaum -NYTimes
Construction - Business - History - "Housing Starts at 16-Year Low." ... "New home construction fell again in December as builders scramble to cut back in the face of rising inventories and fewer orders. The drop-off is likely to hurt businesses that serve the housing industry, which economists do not expect to bottom out until the middle of the year." ... "Groundbreakings remain at the lowest level in more than 16 years, and permits for new residential construction projects recorded their slowest month since the housing recession of the early 1990s, the Commerce Department said on Thursday." ... "Housing starts fell by 14 percent last month, to an annual rate of 1.006 million, seasonally adjusted. Residential construction dropped nearly 40 percent in 2007 as a whole." ... "Permits for new buildings, a leading indicator of housing construction, dropped by 34 percent last year." -By Michael M. Grynbaum -NYTimes
Homeowners - Illinois - "Wealthy may be next in line in home crisis." ... "A house in this wealthy Chicago suburb [of Hinsdale, Illinois] is far beyond the reach of most Americans." ... "With a picturesque little downtown area and large, expensive houses -- according to the Headrick-Wagner Consulting Group, the average home sale price here in the 12 months to September 30, 2007, was around $1.15 million -- Hinsdale seems a world away from the housing slowdown that may have brought the U.S. [United States] economy to the brink of a recession." ... "But even here, far from the housing crisis' epicenter, high earners with good credit may be heading for trouble as their adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) adjust beyond their means, local real estate agents and others say. In a normal housing market they'd be able to sell, but now they are stuck." ... ""The next wave of problems will come from prime borrowers who bought too much house or borrowed too much against it," said Michael van Zalingen, director of home ownership services at Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago [Illinois]. A "prime" borrower is one with good credit." (1, 2, 3) -By Nick Carey with contributions by Eddie Evans -Reuters
Homes - "Merrill Posts Record Loss on $16.7 Billion Writedown (Update6)." ... "Merrill Lynch & Co., the biggest U.S. [United States] brokerage, reported a record loss after $16.7 billion of writedowns on assets infected by subprime mortgages [real-estate and home loans]." ... "The loss was almost three times bigger than analysts estimated and resulted in the first full-year loss since 1989, sending Merrill down 10 percent in New York trading, the biggest decline since the 2001 terrorist attacks." ... "Merrill follows Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns Cos. in reporting a loss, capping Wall Street's worst quarter ever. The five biggest U.S. securities firms, which also include Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., reported a net total of $10.2 billion in losses." ... "The fourth-quarter loss was the same reported earlier this week by Citigroup Inc., which took an $18 billion writedown related to its subprime-mortgage holdings and slashed its dividend 41 percent." ... "The writedowns by Merrill add to more than $100 billion of subprime-related losses reported since May by the world's largest banks and securities firms." -By Bradley Keoun -Bloomberg

20080111

Countrywide Financial Corp - Consumers - Homes - California - Employees - "Mozilo could reap $115 million: The Countrywide [home mortgage corporation] CEO's [Chief Executive Officer's] potential pay if his company is acquired rankles critics." ... "Countrywide Financial Corp. [Corporation] founder Angelo Mozilo, one of the nation's highest-paid chief executives, stands to reap $115 million in severance-related pay if his troubled company is acquired by Bank of America Corp., regulatory filings show." ... "Free rides on the company jet are also included in Mozilo's departure deal, and the company will pick up his country club bills until 2011." ... "Other executives, including Home Depot Inc.'s [Incorporated's] jettisoned CEO, Robert Nardelli, have garnered bigger going-away packages. But critics say Mozilo's arrangement is especially nettlesome given the losses that Countrywide investors have suffered in the last year. Company shares rallied Thursday to $7.75, up $2.63, but that's still down 82% from their high last year." ... ""He has driven the stock price into the ground and the company has been destroyed," [American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees director of pension and benefits policy Richard] Ferlauto said. "Their customers have lost their homes and he is potentially walking away with more than $100 million. For us, that's unconscionable enrichment."" ... "The [Los Angeles] Times reported last year that Mozilo made changes to his stock-trading arrangements that allowed him to ramp up his sales of company stock before Countrywide shares went into a tailspin." ... "Combining those sales with pay and previous gains on the sale of stock, Mozilo has taken more than $650 million out of Countrywide over the course of the last 10 years, Ferlauto said. Add in potential severance payments and the Calabasas[California]-based company would have enriched Mozilo to the tune of three-quarters of a billion dollars." -By Kathy M. Kristof -LAtimes

20080109

Employment - Housing - "Wall Street Is Seeing More Signs Of Recession." ... "Goldman Sachs became the latest Wall Street firm to predict that the U.S. economy will drop into recession this year, saying the Federal Reserve will have to cut interest rates to 2.5 percent by the third quarter as a result." ... ""Over the past few months, we have become increasingly concerned that the US housing and credit market downturn would trigger not just a growth slowdown and substantial Fed easing -- our long-standing view -- but also an outright recession," Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients Wednesday. "The latest data suggest that recession has now arrived, or will very shortly."" ... "The recent rise in unemployment is particularly worrisome, Goldman indicated." ... "Merrill Lynch North American Economist David Rosenberg said the U.S. had entered its first-blown recession in 16 years." -CNBC

20080108

Corporate Money - Politics - Ads - 2008 Election - 2004 Election - Workers - Homes - John Edwards - Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - Mike Huckabee - North Carolina - New York - Illinois - Arkansas - Iowa - US - Consumer - Litigation - Globalization - "Chamber of Commerce vows to punish anti-business candidates: The group indicates it will spend in excess of the approximately $60 million it put out in the last [2004 Election] presidential cycle." ... "Alarmed at the increasingly populist tone of the 2008 [Election] political campaign, the president of the U.S. [United States] Chamber of Commerce is set to issue a fiery promise to spend millions of dollars to defeat candidates deemed to be anti-business." ... ""We plan to build a grass-roots business organization so strong that when it bites you in the butt, you bleed," chamber President Tom Donohue said." ... "The warning from the nation's largest trade association came against a background of mounting popular concern over the condition of the economy. A weak record of job creation, the sub-prime mortgage crisis, declining home values and other problems have all helped make the economy a major campaign issue." ... "Presidential candidates in particular have responded to the public concern. Former [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Senator] Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina has been the bluntest populist voice, but other front-running Democrats, including [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Senator] Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Senator] Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, have also called for change on behalf of middle-class voters." ... "On the Republican side, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and] former Arkansas Gov. [Governor] Mike Huckabee -- emerging as an unexpected front-runner after winning the Iowa caucuses -- has used populist themes in his effort to woo independent voters, blasting bonus pay for corporate chief executives and the effect of unfettered globalization on workers." ... "Reacting to what it sees as a potentially hostile political climate, Donohue said, the chamber will seek to punish candidates who target business interests with their rhetoric or policy proposals, including congressional and state-level candidates." ... "In advance of today's news conference, Donohue told The Times of his plans to be active in 140 congressional districts this year, as well as the presidential contest." ... "At the state level, Donohue said his organization would be active in nearly four dozen contests for attorney general and state supreme courts. Both state courts and attorneys general are involved in decisions affecting business, including consumer protection and a wide range of litigation." ... "Under Donohue, the organization has also frequently aligned itself with GOP [Grand Old Party=Republican] priorities." ... "Under a system Donohue pioneered, corporations contribute money to the chamber, which then finances attack ads targeting individual candidates without revealing the name of the businesses involved in the ads." -By Tom Hamburger -LAtimes
Money - Discrimination - Crime - Maryland - Homeowners - Consumers - Ohio - New York - "Baltimore Is Suing Bank Over Foreclosure Crisis." ... "Baltimore’s [Maryland state] mayor and City Council are suing Wells Fargo Bank, contending that its lending practices discriminated against black borrowers and led to a wave of foreclosures that has reduced city tax revenues and increased its costs." ... "The recent surge in homeowner defaults nationwide, generated by lax lending practices during the real estate boom, has officials bracing for a range of problems that often accompany foreclosures. Some municipalities, including Cleveland [Ohio] and Buffalo [New York], are trying to make lenders responsible for abandoned properties to ward off crimes like arson, drug use and prostitution." ... "In the suit, Mayor Sheila Dixon joined with the City Council to ask that the court bar Wells Fargo from charging higher fees to black borrowers. Many of these borrowers paid more under the bank’s subprime lending program, designed for less creditworthy consumers, and are more likely to default on their loans." ... "In 2006, Wells Fargo made high-cost loans, with an interest rate at least three percentage points above a federal benchmark, to 65 percent of its black customers in Baltimore and to only 15 percent of its white customers in the area, according to the lawsuit. Similarly, refinancings to black borrowers were more likely to be higher cost than to white ones and to carry prepayment penalties." -By Gretchen Morgenson -NYTimes

20080107

John Edwards - Military - Homeless - Poverty - Accounting - Language - 2008 Election - Politics - "Edwards on Veterans: It Checks Out." ... "Several readers have asked us to check this surprising statistic, often used by [2008 Election Democratid Presidential Candidate John] Edwards. The language may be overly dramatic, but the figure is an official one, from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The department believes that one-third of the adult homeless population of the United States "have served their country in the Armed Services." A posting on the department Web site says that about 195,000 veterans are "homeless on any given night" and perhaps twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year." -WashingtonPost

20080103

Consumer - Autos - Homes - Money - History - "Delinquent Nation: Late Payments Soar: Late Payments On Consumer Loans Jump To Highest Point Since Last Recession." ... "Late payments on a cluster of consumer loans, including those for autos, home improvement and certain home equity loans, climbed in the summer to their highest point since the country's last recession in 2001." ... "The American Bankers Association reported Thursday that the delinquency rate on a composite of consumer loans increased to 2.44 percent in the July-to-September quarter. That was up sharply from 2.27 percent in the previous quarter and was the highest late-payment rate since the second quarter of 2001, when the economy was suffering through a recession." ... "Late payments on home equity lines of credit jumped to 0.84 percent in the third quarter. That was up from 0.77 percent in the second quarter and was the highest since the final quarter of 1997." ... "Meanwhile, the delinquency rate on "indirect" auto loans — which are arranged through dealerships — jumped in the third quarter to 2.86 percent, a 16-year high." -AP via -CBSNews

20080102

Manufacturing - History - Housing - "U.S. Economy: Manufacturing Shrinks Most Since 2003 (Update3)." ... "Manufacturing in the U.S. shrank the most last month in almost five years, triggering speculation that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by half a percentage point to stave off a recession." ... "The Institute for Supply Management's factory index fell to 47.7, from 50.8 the prior month, the Tempe, Arizona-based group said today. The figure was lower than forecast by any economist surveyed by Bloomberg News. Fifty is the dividing line between contraction and expansion." ... "Stocks fell and Treasury notes climbed as the report suggested the housing-market rout is spreading to the broader economy. The ISM's gauge has now fallen six straight months, the longest losing streak since the eve of the economy's last contraction in 2001." ... "The ISM's measure starts pointing to a recession across the economy when it falls below 41.9 for two straight quarters, according to Norbert Ore, chairman of the institute's manufacturing survey." ... "The decrease in today's overall manufacturing index reflected a decline in new orders to the lowest level since October 2001. ISM's new orders index fell to 45.7 from 52.6. The production measure fell to 47.3 from 51.9." ... "The inventory index in today's report declined to 45.5 from 46.9. Figures less than 50 mean manufacturers are reducing stockpiles." -By Courtney Schlisserman -Bloomberg

20071231

Money - Politics - Federal - Housing - Legislation - New Jersey - Georgia - California - Texas - Utah - Maryland- Nevada - Oregon - Washington - 2004 Election - US - Netherlands - "Lender Lobbying Blitz Abetted Mortgage Mess: Ameriquest Pressed For Changes in Laws; A Battle in New Jersey." ... "During the housing boom, the subprime industry succeeded at more than just writing mortgages. It also shot down efforts by some states to curtail risky lending to borrowers with spotty credit." ... "Ameriquest Mortgage Co. [ACC Capital Holdings], until recently one of the nation's largest subprime lenders, was at the center of those battles. Working with a husband-and-wife team of Washington lobbyists, it handed out more than $20 million in political donations and played a big role in persuading legislators in New Jersey and Georgia to relax tough new laws. Those victories, in turn, helped blunt efforts by other states to crack down on reckless lending, critics of the industry contend." ... "Home loans made by Ameriquest and other subprime lenders are defaulting now in large numbers, roiling global credit markets and sparking debate about whether regulators and lawmakers should have anticipated the mess and taken action. A close look at Ameriquest's lobbying and political donations shows how the subprime industry maneuvered to defeat legislation that might have contained some of the damage." ... "Data from federal and state campaign-finance records, Internal Revenue Service filings, and the National Institute on Money in State Politics show that from 2002 through 2006, Ameriquest, its executives and their spouses and business associates donated at least $20.5 million to state and federal political groups. In comparison, over the same time period, Countrywide Financial, another large subprime lender, gave about $2 million in campaign gifts, and spent an additional $6.7 million lobbying in Washington, records indicate." ... "Some of the giving by Ameriquest executives and associates was high-profile. [Republican] President Bush received more than $200,000 for his 2004 re-election campaign, and Ameriquest founder Roland Arnall and his wife, Dawn, contributed more than $5 million to political organizations that backed the president. Last year, [Republican] President Bush appointed Mr. Arnall ambassador to the Netherlands, and his wife took over as chairman of Ameriquest's parent company. California [Republican Governor] Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaigns received at least $1.4 million, along with stacks of tickets to a Rolling Stones concert that were used to lure big donors." ... "Last year, ACC Capital, its [Ameriquest Mortgage Company] parent company, agreed to pay $325 million to settle regulators' claims that it charged excessively high mortgage rates and didn't adequately disclose loan risks. Some of the state attorneys general who signed the settlement, including Greg Abbott of Texas, received campaign donations from the firm. Utah's attorney general, Mark Shurtleff, received a $1,000 contribution and Rolling Stones tickets." ... "Ameriquest also handed out Rolling Stones tickets to state legislators in Georgia, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and California, according to ethics records and local news accounts." ... "Federal lawmakers didn't pose much of a threat to the subprime industry in recent years. Members of Congress received at least $645,000 in donations from Ameriquest and large sums from other big subprime lenders, Federal Election Commission records indicate." ... "ACC Capital, Ameriquest's parent company, and its executives gave more than $350,000 to Texas politicians in 2006, including $100,000 to [Republican Governor] Gov. Rick Perry, according to state records." -By Glenn R. Simpson -WSJ.com

20071228

Economic - Construction - History - "Sales of New Homes in U.S. Dropped 9% to 12-Year Low (Update3)." ... "Sales of new homes in the U.S. fell to a 12-year low in November, pointing to bigger declines in construction that will hobble economic growth throughout 2008." ... "Purchases dropped 9 percent to an annual pace of 647,000 and October sales were revised down to a 711,000 rate, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Last month's sales were weaker than the lowest forecast in a Bloomberg survey. " ... "A Bloomberg survey of 68 economists forecast sales would fall to an annual pace of 717,000 from a previously reported 728,000 rate in October, according to the median estimate. Economists' forecasts ranged from a low of 685,000 to a high of 750,000." ... "Sales of new homes were down 34 percent from the same time last year, the biggest 12-month drop since January 1991." ... "The housing recession has deepened since the August turmoil in subprime mortgages led to a worldwide credit shortage. Stricter borrowing standards and a freeze on lending to borrowers with poor credit put mortgages out of reach for more potential buyers. That's driving home prices lower, weakening sales as people hold out for even bigger reductions." -By Bob Willis -Bloomberg

20071226

John Edwards - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - Iowa - Manufacturing - Jobs - Family - Health-Care - Environment - Human Rights - US - China - Corporations - Iraq - Military - Indiana - Idaho - Illinois - Homes - Consumers - 2008 Election - "Behind the Edwards Surge: Right Message at the Right Time." ... "To a far greater extent than [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidates Barack] Obama or [Hillary] Clinton, [John] Edwards has struck at the heart of issues that should matter most in the race to replace not just [Republican President] George W. Bush, but the Bush agenda of corporate giveaways, job-crushing free trade deals, war profiteering in Iraq, and subprime mortgage profiteering in Indiana, Idaho, Illinois and, yes, Iowa." ... "Edwards summed up his increasingly aggressive and powerful anti-corporate themes with a declaration: "What makes America America is at stake: jobs, the middle class, health care, preserving the environment in the world for future generations."" ... ""But all those things are at risk. And why are they at risk? Because of corporate power and corporate greed in Washington, D.C. And we have to take them on. You can't make a deal with them. You can't hope that they're going to go away. You have to actually be willing to fight. And I want every caucus-goer to know I've been fighting these people and winning my entire life. And if we do this together, rise up together, we can actually make absolutely certain, starting here in Iowa, that we make this country better than we left it."" ... "Edwards got to know workers in Iowa. He stood with them in their struggles." ... "Turning a broad question about human rights toward the specific issue of trade policy, the former senator said that human rights, human needs and human values "should be central to our trade policy."" ... ""But," he added, "if you look at what's happened with American trade policy, look at what America got: Big corporations made a lot of money, are continuing to make a lot of money in China. But what did America get in return? We got millions of dangerous Chinese toys. We lost millions of jobs." ... ""And right here in Iowa, the Maytag plant in Newton [Iowa] closed. A guy named Doug Bishop, who I got to know very well, had worked in that plant, and his family had worked in that plant literally for generations. And his job is now gone. The same thing, by the way, happened in the plant that my father worked in when I was growing up. It is so important that we stop allowing these corporate powers and corporate profits to run America's policy, whether it's trade policy, how we engage with China. This is not good for America. It's not good for American jobs. And it's not good for working people in this country."" ... "That's an issue Edwards has taken far, far more seriously than his opponents in what is now a three-way race in Iowa. And that seriousness has benefitted the former senator." -By John Nichols -TheNation
Consumer - Money - History - "U.S. Home Prices Fell 6.1% in October, Index Shows (Update2)." ... "Home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas fell in October by the most in at least six years, a private survey showed today." ... "Property values fell 6.1 percent from October 2006, more than forecast, after dropping 4.9 percent in September, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index. The decrease was the biggest since the group started keeping year-over-year records in 2001. The index has fallen every month this year." ... "Prices will probably remain under pressure as the jump in foreclosures puts even more homes on the market just as stricter lending rules make it harder for buyers to find financing. Declining values make it harder for owners to tap home equity for extra cash, posing a risk to consumer spending." -By Joe Richter and Courtney Schlisserman -Bloomberg

20071222

Families - Poverty - Agriculture - Christmas-Holidays- Thanksgiving - Gasoline - Households - Money - People - "Food Bank Shelves Going Bare At Holidays: High Living Costs Hurting Donations, While Increasing Demand By Needy Families." ... "The reports from across the country are dismaying: Food pantries are running short and cannot meet the needs of all those seeking help." ... "In the Department of Agriculture's most recent study of hunger in America, released in November, more than 35.5 million Americans, including 12.6 million children, were found to have "low" or "very low food security" (defined as households where hunger was prevalent, where there was not enough money to buy adequate food supplies, where food purchased did not last, or where family members had to cut down or skip meals - sometimes not eating for a day or longer)." ... "That's roughly 1 in 9 households. And the numbers are rising from last year." ... "Everywhere, people are feeling the crunch of rising gasoline and grocery prices, as well as utility bills, rent and mortgage payments." ... "Those factors also are cutting into people's ability to donate to food banks for others in need." ... "At Thanksgiving, the [America's Second Harvest] organization estimated that food banks nationally were short a total of 15 million pounds of food, or roughly 11.7 million meals. " -AP via -CBSNews

20071218

Fed - Money - Politics - Investigate - Law - History - People's - Homes - Consumer - California - New York - Wyo - "Fed Shrugged as Subprime Crisis Spread." ... "Until the boom in subprime mortgages turned into a national nightmare this summer, the few people who tried to warn federal banking officials might as well have been talking to themselves." ... "Edward M. Gramlich, a Federal Reserve governor who died in September, warned nearly seven years ago that a fast-growing new breed of lenders was luring many people into risky mortgages they could not afford." ... "But when Mr. Gramlich privately urged Fed examiners to investigate mortgage lenders affiliated with national banks, he was rebuffed by Alan Greenspan, the Fed chairman." ... "In 2001, a senior Treasury official, Sheila C. Bair, tried to persuade subprime lenders to adopt a code of “best practices” and to let outside monitors verify their compliance. None of the lenders would agree to the monitors, and many rejected the code itself. Even those who did adopt those practices, Ms. Bair recalled recently, soon let them slip." ... "And leaders of a housing advocacy group in California, meeting with Mr. Greenspan in 2004, warned that deception was increasing and unscrupulous practices were spreading." ... "John C. Gamboa and Robert L. Gnaizda of the Greenlining Institute implored Mr. Greenspan to use his bully pulpit and press for a voluntary code of conduct." ... "“He never gave us a good reason, but he didn’t want to do it,” Mr. Gnaizda said last week. “He just wasn’t interested.”" ... "“The Federal Reserve could have stopped this problem dead in its tracks,” said Martin Eakes, chief executive of the center [Center for Responsible Lending]. “If the Fed had done its job, we would not have had the abusive lending and we would not have a [home] foreclosure crisis in virtually every community across America.”" ... "Mr. Greenspan and other Fed officials repeatedly dismissed warnings about a speculative bubble in housing prices. In December 2004, the New York Fed issued a report bluntly declaring that “no bubble exists.” Mr. Greenspan predicted several times — incorrectly, it turned out — that housing declines would be local but almost certainly not nationwide." ... " “Why are the most risky loan products sold to the least sophisticated borrowers?” Mr. Gramlich asked in a speech he prepared last August for the Fed’s symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo[Wyoming]. “The question answers itself — the least sophisticated borrowers are probably duped into taking these products.”" (1, 2, 3) -By Edmund L. Andrews with contributions by Gretchen Morgenson -NYTimes

20071209

Rudy Giuliani - Police - Politics - Trips - Apartments - New York - Indigent - Lawyers - US - Qatar - Terrorism - 2008 Election - "Giuliani Defends Girlfriend's Expenses." ... "Former New York Mayor [and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rudy Giuliani on Sunday defended the expenses incurred by his security detail as he was beginning an extramarital affair with current wife Judith Nathan, saying police made the decision after she had received threats." ... "Giuliani in recent weeks has faced a barrage of questions about New York police security costs for his trysts with Nathan and about his business clients, which have included the Persian Gulf country of Qatar. The Gulf state is a U.S. ally, but allegations have been made that some prominent Qatari officials sheltered suspected Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. " ... "Records first reported by Politico.com last month showed repeated trips between 1999 and 2002 to Long Island, where Nathan had a condominium. Giuliani's first trip was from Aug. 31 to Sept. 1, 1999 - months before he acknowledged the breakdown of his second marriage in the spring of 2000." ... "Security costs for those trips were charged to agencies like the New York City Loft Board, which regulates loft apartments and was billed $34,000. The Office for People with Disabilities was charged $10,000, while the Assigned Counsel Administrative Office, which provides lawyers for indigent defendants, was charged roughly $400,000. " -By Libby Quaid -AP via -CBSNews

20071203

United States - Debt - Government - Fiscal - Politics - People - Parents - Accounting - History - Homeowners</