U.S. Economy: Home Prices Fall Near Depression Pace

Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Sales of single-family houses in the U.S. dropped in November by the most in two decades and resale prices collapsed at a pace reminiscent of the Great Depression, dashing speculation the market was close to a bottom.

Lets see what happens when the Alt-A mortgage holders try to refi.

When money goes global, fraud does too.

Madoff Scheme Kept Rippling Outward, Across Borders

Jim Rogers says most US Banks Bankrupt

Jim Rogers calls most big U.S. banks "bankrupt"
Reuters Thu Dec 11, 2008 1:53pm EST

"What is outrageous economically and is outrageous morally is that normally in times like this, people who are competent and who saw it coming and who kept their powder dry go and take over the assets from the incompetent," he said. "What's happening this time is that the government is taking the assets from the competent people and giving them to the incompetent people and saying, now you can compete with the competent people. It is horrible economics."

NY Times investigations/Editorials

The Reckoning
NY Times Articles in this series are exploring the causes of the financial crisis.

OP-ED COLUMNIST
Two C(J)heers for Rod Blagojevich

By FRANK RICH
Published: December 13, 2008
Need to be a free member of the NY Times to view this article.

Ex-Nasdaq chairman, investor charged with securities fraud, FBI says

Here we go again. The next round of bad news.

Madoff arrested in alleged Ponzi scheme
Ex-Nasdaq chairman, investor charged with securities fraud, FBI says

By Alistair Barr & Ronald D. Orol, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Bernard Madoff, former Nasdaq Stock Market chairman and founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, was arrested and charged with securities fraud Thursday in what federal prosecutors called a Ponzi scheme that could involve losses of more than $50 billion.
Madoff, 70, of New York, was charged with one count of securities fraud, according to a statement from the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint in federal court in Manhattan seeking an asset freeze and the appointment of a receiver for the firm run by Madoff.
"We are alleging a massive fraud, both in terms of scope and duration," said SEC Enforcement Bureau director Linda Thomsen in a statement. "We are moving quickly and decisively to stop the fraud and protect remaining assets for investors, and we are working closely with the criminal authorities to hold Mr. Madoff accountable."

Aus $ to rise vs US $

USD Per Australian Dollar Currency Exchange Forecast

Month Date Forecast
Value
0 Oct 2008 0.6870
1 Nov 2008 0.662
2 Dec 2008 0.662
3 Jan 2009 0.709
4 Feb 2009 0.735
5 Mar 2009 0.791
6 Apr 2009 0.819
7 May 2009 0.847
8 Jun 2009 0.823

£500bn worth of loans need refinancing

Guardian UK
High street meltdown
A Nightmare on the High Street as shops fall like dominoes
After the collapse of MFI and Woolworths, other retailers are sure to go under, but there will be some financiers who seize the opportunity to build an empire from the rubble, writes Nick Mathiason
The Bank for International Settlements, the central banks' central bank, said in its annual report last year that there were £500bn worth of loans taken out by private equity firms that need refinancing by 2010. As things stand, many of the private equity-owned retail businesses are struggling to make payments on what were generous bank terms negotiated in the good times.

Spitzer surfaces

We could really use Elliot Spitzer right now to wade into Wall street and send some people to jail.
Instead the man who might have run for president is now reduced to a political commentator.

Too Big Not To Fail
We need to stop using the bailouts to rebuild gigantic financial institutions.
By Eliot Spitzer
Posted Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008, at 5:59 PM ET

...
In that case, vast sums now being spent on rescue packages might have been available to increase the intellectual capabilities of the next generation, or to support basic research and development that could give us true competitive advantage, or to restructure our bloated health care sector, or to build the type of physical infrastructure we need to be competitive.
It is time we permitted the market to work: This means true competition with winners and losers; companies that disappear; shareholders and CEOs who can lose as well as win; and government investment in the long-range competitiveness of our nation, not in a failed business model of financial concentration and failed risk management that holds nobody accountable.
This point will be all too well driven home when the remaining investment bankers in New York board a CACC jet to fly to Washington to negotiate the terms of a government bailout of yet another U.S. financial institution that was deemed too big to fail.

California's car crisis

From the BBC
California's car crisis
Page last updated at 00:30 GMT, Thursday, 4 December 2008
Cars are stacking up at California ports.
Car salesman say you should not buy a car if your house has just lost 60% of its value.