July Foreclosures Hit Record

The Federal Reserve and the Treasury have been doing exactly what they do best, these past few months. They have been trying to promote the idea that the "recession" is nearing its end and have continued with their Bubble School of Economics view on the market. The amazing 50% rally we have seen in the S&P is a byproduct of their "Goldilocks" spin, a direct result of their cheap, freshly printed money and quantitative easing. While the CNBC pundits and the politicians would have you believe that this is the beginning of the next great bull market in equities, I think the fundamentals show that we still have a long way to go. More foreclosures is going to mean more write-downs on the banks' books at some point, and god knows what destruction can be caused by those worthless credit derivatives that they have amounted in vast sums. Remember the tumultuous events of last fall when Lehman Brother's failed, and the government officials ran around like chickens with their heads cut off to figure out how to contain the counterparty risk? Merrill Lynch, AIG, Wachovia, WaMu, all victims of that mountain of worthless paper. Well it can happen again, and if the housing market continues to crumble, and commercial real estate joins the ranks of suffering sectors of the economy, then I think we can be assured that things are far from over. The most important thing to do is protect your money.

Read the article HERE.

Home foreclosures set another record in July

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. home loans failed at a record pace in July despite ongoing federal and state programs to avoid foreclosures, which have severely strained housing and the economy.

Foreclosure activity jumped 7 percent in July from June and 32 percent from a year earlier as one in every 355 households with a loan got a foreclosure filing, RealtyTrac said on Thursday...