“Falling home prices and dwindling sales affected U.S. metros during the third quarter. Find out which cities and states experienced the biggest declines here.”

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“Bill Ackman’s bets against bond insurers MBIA Inc. and Ambac Financial paid off handsomely in recent weeks and the activist hedge fund manager said on Wednesday that a big chunk of those gains will go to charity.”

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“Kohn’s comments just add to a perception that the Fed is embarking on a sustained path of easing”

American stocks staged the biggest two-day rally in five years, led by financial shares, after the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, Donald Kohn, buttressed expectations for another interest rate cut. via New York Sun

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“I started writing about Credit Default Swaps (CDS) just a year ago. But, for this market, that’s ancient history: within just 12 months notional amounts outstanding have increased from 26 to 46 trillion dollars.”

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“Commercial real estate is a full-blown bubble that feels very much at a bursting point”

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Bloomberg ran an interesting article this morning. The article contained an interview with Jens Nordvig, a senior currency strategist in New York at Goldman Sachs . via Blogging Stocks

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“Borrowers need to understand that they can “demand” a “life of loan history” via a “qualified written request” . This is a law under Section 6 the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act (RESPA). By law, the lender or servicer is required to acknowledge the request within 20 business days and must try and resolve the issue within 60 business days.”

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“Bank of America’s $2 billion investment isn’t quite as shaky as it may look at first glance. The bank invested in Countrywide nonvoting convertible preferred stock, which can be converted into common stock at a price of $18 a share. But until that option is exercised, the investment operates much like a convertible bond — paying a 7.25% dividend, or $145 million annually.” — Well, at minimum, we know the conversion isn’t worth anything anymore. But will BofA swallow up CW? It could happen.

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“Bernanke Hints Further Rate Reduction May Be Needed to Head Off Economic `headwinds’”

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“The creditors committee in the bankruptcy of one of Florida’s biggest condominium converters claims one of its own committed fraud and broke the state usury law on $12 million in loans to Hialeah developer Juan Puig. ”

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