Markets

On Monday, I asked, "which homebuilder will go bankrupt next?" The answer came on the very next day: Legend Homes, an Oregon-based homebuilder. The Oregonian newspaper reports:"Legend Homes, one of Oregon's largest home builders, filed…

Deutsche Bank has sold three New York skyscrapers back to the Macklowe group at a discount of 20-30% reports the Wall Street Journal. This could be a watershed moment in the U.S. commercial real estate (CRE)sector. CRE is a sector that is…

The UK is in the throes of the worst of the mortgage meltdown. Financial shares are tumbling. Home builders face collapse. Many top names in British housing and banking have been caught out and are getting a deserved swift kick: Northern…

If you thought it was bad in the US, you need to read the British press. I subscribe to a number of RSS feeds for UK newspapers. I was rummaging tbough the Telegraph's news feed and I was surprised at how gloomy the mood is in the UK.…

After stars like Evander Holyfield and Jose Canseco defaulted on their mortgages, who is immune: lawmakers? Think again. The Charlotte Observer has a story out today reporting that Julia Boseman, a North Carolina State Senator has fallen…

So the Federal Housing Administration is the latest victim of the housing bust. If they weren't a government agency, they might actually be bust.The projected loss is the highest in the home loan program since 2004, and officials said the…

Why does the media report month to month statistics like they mean anything? It's the year-on-year trend that is important. Note the headline in this item versus the reality. April pending home sales rise as prices tumble The…

Citigroup, Merrill, UBS Face Further Writedowns, Whitney SaysBy Jeff KearnsJune 9 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. and UBS AG may post further writedowns of $10 billion on their debt holdings after the two biggest bond…

When was the last time you heard of a major U.S. home builder going bankrupt? It's been quite a while. Even though my focus right now is firmly fixed on financial institutions and mortgage lenders, I have a watchful eye on home builders.…

I am a Euroscpetic. I admire the political will of Europe's grand designers in creating the Euro, but I have always felt that harmonisation would be a painful process fraught with tension - especially during economic downturns. And so it is…