Mohave.net

By Philip van DoornTheStreet.com Ratings Bank Analyst8/22/2007 5:39 AM EDT

Countrywide Financial (CFC - Cramer’s Take - Stockpickr) isn’t the only big bank threatened by the deepening real estate crisis.
An analysis of the largest 20 banks and thrifts by TheStreet.com Ratings shows that four institutions are under-reserved for possible credit losses, a red flag as the economy slows and mortgage defaults rise.
Perhaps more troubling, the numbers show that one of those institutions — Washington Mutual (WM - Cramer’s Take - Stockpickr) — could join Countrywide in facing serious liquidity problems as worries about the housing and mortgage markets multiply.

http://www.thestreet.com/_htmlbtb/newsanalysis/ratings/10375529.html

There is a chart at the bottom of the 20 banks they analysed.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20343099/

Builder’s north woes worry A.J.

By MARK FLATTEN TRIBUNE
East Valley Tribune
Updated: 3:49 a.m. MT Aug 19, 2007

Life in Arizona has gotten tough for developer Jim Rhodes. In recent weeks the Las Vegas homebuilder has lost a major lawsuit that will likely cost him several thousand acres he wanted near Kingman. He also failed to block efforts at the Arizona Corporation Commission to have him testify under oath as to why he kept a crooked ex-politician from Nevada on his payroll.

http://www.kingmandailyminer.com/main.asp?SectionID=13&SubSectionID=18&ArticleID=12936&TM=53626.71

8/21/2007 1:41:00 PM
Suzanne AdamsMiner Staff Writer

Pilots using the Kingman Airport may have to deal with a new subdivision at the end of the runway.The Board of Supervisors Monday overruled the County Planning and Zoning Commission and approved an amendment to the county’s General Plan, which will allow the Statesboro subdivision to be built in the approach to one of the airport’s runways. Supervisors Buster Johnson and Tom Sockwell voted for the development. Board Chairman Pete Byers voted against it.

Three articles about San Diego and foreclosures.

Ground Zero in San Diego’s Mortgage Mess
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2007/08/20/news/02foreclosures082007.txt

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2007/08/20/housing/934family032207.txt

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2007/08/21/survival/699foreclosurebus082007.txt

No paychecks, but assistance promised for First Magnus workers

Company officials put together $1 million in aid but said their accounts are frozen.

By Christie Smythe
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona Published: 08.21.2007

First Magnus Financial Corp. still is not sending out paychecks to its former employees.
But the Tucson-based mortgage lender announced it is creating an assistance fund of more than $1 million to ease the burden.
In a news release, the company said paychecks have been delayed because its accounts were frozen by investors that provided capital to First Magnus to make loans.

http://www.azstarnet.com/business/197349

Online comments: http://regulus2.azstarnet.com/comments/index.php?id=197349

By Al LewisDenver Post Staff Columnist
Article Last Updated: 08/20/2007 10:48:12 PM MDT

The subprime mortgage mess is “largely contained” - or at least that’s what Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. said in March.

And then, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke repeatedly told us our subprime woes would not spill into the broader U.S. economy.

Now, the Fed is sandbagging the levee. …..

So why is the Federal Reserve so busy managing our economy? Or is it simply bailing out a bunch of high rollers who made bad bets on subprime loans?

So what if Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs and some of the biggest investors in the world are reeling from their own stupidity? Who cares if Countrywide and other major mortgage lenders go belly up because of their risky lending practices? And if you can’t pay your mortgage or get a new one - well, geez, didn’t you ever play Monopoly as a kid?

http://test.denverpost.com/business/ci_6674117

Last Update: 4:30 PM ET Aug 20, 2007

Capital One Financial Corporation today announced that it will cease residential mortgage origination operations at its wholesale mortgage banking unit, GreenPoint Mortgage, effective immediately…….

As part of this decision, the company will close GreenPoint’s California- based headquarters along with 31 locations across 19 states. The change will result in the elimination of approximately 1,900 positions with the vast majority of these positions being eliminated by the end of the year.

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=PR&Date=20070820&ID=7348049

From the UK:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/08/20/bcnswiss20.xml

Top Swiss banker attacks US lending standards as ‘unbelievable’ By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard and Yvette Essen
Last Updated: 8:29am BST 20/08/2007

Switzerland’s top banker has warned of massive losses from the unfolding credit crisis, describing the collapse in US lending standards as “unbelievable”.

Jean-Pierre Roth, president of the Swiss National Bank, said market turmoil was far from over as tremors from the sub-prime debacle continued to rock the world.

“We’re certainly not at the end of the story. There are question marks surrounding the development of the American economy,” he said. “Something unbelievable happened. People who had neither income nor capital got credit with very attractive conditions. Now reality is striking back,” he said.

Here is an article about what the Fed did last week……….

Throwing a Bone To A Starving Dog
by Lee Adler

There sure has been a lot of nonsensical gibberish flying around the financial infomercial media, and in the world of blogs and message boards since Friday. So let’s try to separate fact from fantasy.

We’ll start with something I agree with. I do believe that the Fed’s action had everything to do with Countrywide’s bank arm, the well publicized run by their customers, and the fact that they were forced to borrow apparently all of their $11 billion bank credit facility. This is a dangerous and volatile mix in the arena of the public confidence game that fiat money systems depend on. The Fed had to do “something” to give the world the impression that they were actually “doing” something.

What did they actually do? Not much.

http://wallstreetexaminer.com/?p=1550

It’s deal time with 55,000 homes listed

Aug. 17, 2007 05:44 PM

Home sales and building are down in metropolitan Phoenix, but there are other indicators to track where the housing market is headed.Here’s a look at some.

• Home listings in the Valley climbed to almost 55,000 during the past few weeks. That’s a new high. The number of houses that are marketed for a short sale to avoid foreclosure or are bank-owned is also up. That’s good news for buyers looking for deals.

• About 85 percent of the Valley homes foreclosed on in July went back to the lender, according to the Information Market. That means fewer investors bidding on foreclosure properties on the courthouse steps. In many cases, more is owed on the home than what it’s worth now.

http://www.azcentral.com/business/columns/articles/0817biz-catherine17-ON.html