Bernanke’s No Help for FHA 

Ben Bernanke tried to reassure investors yesterday that the United States is in better shape than it was during the Great Depression… and that interest rate cuts might not be enough to jumpstart the depressed stock and housing markets. If they do drop interest rates to zero, the Federal Reserve does have other tools to influence liquidity – it can purchase Treasury bonds to increase the money supply.  

But even low interest rates aren’t helping home sales much.

Homebuilder Beazer (NYSE: BZH) just reported a fourth quarter loss of almost $500 million. Beazer and its competitors – Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM), Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) and D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) – have been struggling to pare losses as they reduce inventory and property.

And low interest rates aren’t helping those homeowners already “upside down” in their loans. But they are helping to

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Tontine PartnersTontine Capital Partners - Holding AnalysisThis post is being written as part of HedgeFundBlogger.com's Investment Securities Tool which analyzes the holdings of hedge fund managers.If you're unfamiliar with Gendell and his Tontine Partners, then here's what you need to know. Founded 11 years ago, Tontine is a $10 billion fund ran by Jeffrey Gendell. He specializes in macro investing and takes very large, concentrated positions in companies he feels will benefit from those macro themes. Additionally, he will take on an activist role when necessary, to ensure shareholder returns. The fund has posted returns in excess of 100% in both 2003 and 2005.So, let's get right down to it... what was Jeffrey Gendell ...

This market will drive a sane person batty at times, I have to tell you. Remember about 2-3 months ago, every day oil dropped people ran into technology stocks as a "safe haven"? We were shaking our head sadly and saying, how is this a safe haven... in time this will be proven to be a false assertion. But that did not stop the stocks from running up 5-10-15% each time oil dropped a few bucks as hedge funds had to find something to "play". Remember, as we always say, perception is reality. Until reality strikes. Lately we've seen poor earnings from Dell (DELL), we've seen bad news out of the semiconductor industry yesterday, Corning (GLW) is struggling, we've seen Qualcomm (QCOM) ...

Key Points: Housing inventories are still rising Mortgages are both harder to get and more expensive 2009 profit forecasts continue to be cut on homebuilders and financial companies

My Home Buying Experience

I've been trying to buy a house via a short-sale, and from what I'm hearing and reading, my experience has been typical of many other would-be buyers. It also reaffirms my belief that the housing slump will extend into next year.

Last April, my wife and I made a bid on a house that was selling for less than what was owed (hence the term "short sale"). The owners used 100% financing to purchase the house and have since been unable to keep up with the payments.

In a short sale situation, the lender(s) absorb the difference between the loan amount and the purchase price. Therefore, any purchase offer must be approved by them. The first lender approved our

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Key Points: Housing inventories are still rising Mortgages are both harder to get and more expensive 2009 profit forecasts continue to be cut on homebuilders and financial companies

My Home Buying Experience

I've been trying to buy a house via a short-sale, and from what I'm hearing and reading, my experience has been typical of many other would-be buyers. It also reaffirms my belief that the housing slump will extend into next year.

Last April, my wife and I made a bid on a house that was selling for less than what was owed (hence the term "short sale"). The owners used 100% financing to purchase the house and have since been unable to keep up with the payments.

In a short sale situation, the lender(s) absorb the difference between the loan amount and the purchase price. Therefore, any purchase offer must be approved by them. The first lender approved our

...