The rebound in the S&P 500 from 665 is a bullish sign to traders who base predictions on so-called Fibonacci patterns in price charts. The index has risen 9 percent since sinking to 666.79 on March 6. The low was within 0.3 percent of 665, a level at which the benchmark index would give up 61.8 percent of the 25-year rally beginning in 1982. [1] I grabbed the above quote just before BL evaporated it (but you will still be able to see traces for a while if you google the text — and now that text has shown up…
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  Between the cooling economy and tighter credit- things are rough enough for homebuilders.  They are also facing another big problem- competing with the lenders:  [Thanks L!] In many markets, "we are no longer competing with other builders. We are competing with foreclosures," said Steve Ruffner, president of the Southern California division of KB Home. Sales of used homes are actually rising in some regions because of foreclosures, but new-home sales fell to a four-decade low in January, down 77% from their peak in summer 2005. Altogether, home builders sold houses at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000 units…
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Last week, I offered to wager a friend that, “In the next three years, Fannie Mae will be engaged in a variety of business activities which are market sensitive. …” Old Doom friend Bill Maloni often has unique insight, but this time he’s brought us something special. He’s making a strong case for Fannie Mae working through FHFA conservatorship and reemerging as an independent Enterprise in about four years. I think this issue is of more than routine importance, and I make my case for this below, after the re-post that Bill has again graciously given us permission to do….
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