How a housing boom turned into a bust

Housing woes have domino effect

By Kathy Chu with Sharon Silke Carty, Greg Farrell, Barbara Hagenbaugh, Edward Iwata, Noelle Knox and Adam Shell

If you haven't yet felt the impact of the nation's credit crisis, just wait. Chances are, you won't have to wait long.

So far, the turmoil may feel a bit remote for average people: Failed mortgage lenders. Gargantuan write-downs by banks. Foreclosures for people who couldn't really afford the mortgages they got.

What about the rest of us? Are we in danger? No one knows for sure, but quite likely, yes.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2007-11-25-credit-crunch_N.htm

A good article from USA Today with lots of charts.

Its Credit and its Crunchy

A funny video from the UK regarding the Northern Rock Bank run and the mortgage securitization business.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br8mOmH9frE


And another British video on subprime loans

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5VeNwG3xms&NR=1

FOMC cuts fed funds and discount rates by half point each

By Greg Robb
Last Update: 2:15 PM ET Sep 18, 2007

In a statement, the FOMC said the action "was necessary to forestall some of the adverse effects on the broad economy that might otherwise arise from the disruptions in financial markets and to promote moderate growth over time." The Fed said that some inflation risks remain. It said the credit crunch could hurt the economy.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/federal...

Japanese Housewives Sweat in Secret as Markets Reel

I found this a really interesting article:

By MARTIN FACKLER
Published: September 16, 2007
TOKYO, Sept. 15 — Since the credit crisis started shaking the world financial markets this summer, many professional traders have taken big losses. Another, less likely group of investors has, too: middle-class Japanese homemakers who moonlight as amateur currency speculators.

Ms. Itoh is one of them. Ms. Itoh, a homemaker in the central city of Nagoya, did not want her full name used because her husband still does not know. After cleaning the dinner dishes, she would spend her evenings buying and selling British pounds and Australian dollars.

When the turmoil struck the currency markets last month, Ms. Itoh spent a sleepless week as market losses wiped out her holdings. She lost nearly all her family’s $100,000 in savings.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/business/worldbusiness/16housewives.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin