FT.com - It was the greatest opportunity of his career, hedge fund manager John Paulson told investors last year. Read more…

FT.com - Cattles said it continued to enjoy strong support from its lenders as the subprime loans specialist predicted growth in its part of the consumer finance market. Read more…

FT.com - Earlier this year HBOS was criticised for misjudging the UK mortgage market. Read more…

FT.com - Deepening uncertainty in the housing market has led Travis Perkins to warn of a short-term growth slowdown. Read more…

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FT.com - The dollar advanced on Thursday, helped by a combination of rising US inflationary pressure and signs that consumer spending was holding up in the face of worries over the US housing market. Read more…

AFP - The world's major central banks face the delicate balancing act of trying to ease the global credit crunch sparked by the US subprime home loan crisis while trying to rein in rising inflation. Read more…

Reuters - Countrywide Financial Corp , the No. 1 U.S. mortgage lender, said on Thursday mortgage loan funding tumbled 40 percent to $23 billion in November, sending its shares down 5 percent as late payments continue to escalate. Read more…

AP - Mortgage rates, which had been sliding, went up this week, disappointing news to would-be home buyers. Read more…

Reuters - Key senators have reached a deal to expand the nation's largest federal homeownership program in a move that could help struggling subprime borrowers avoid foreclosure, legislative and industry sources said. Read more…

AP - Northern Rock PLC's chief executive will step down immediately rather than in February as planned, the troubled mortgage lender said Thursday. Read more…

AFP - European and Asian stock markets fell heavily on Thursday, even after Wall Street had ended higher as major central banks sought to soothe a global credit squeeze caused by the US home-loan collapse. Read more…

Reuters - The home loan unit of Countrywide Financial Corp , the largest U.S. mortgage lender, is under investigation by Illinois' attorney general over dubious lending practices, The New York Times reported on Thursday. Read more…

Reuters - The German state and public banks clubbed together for the second time in five months to save subprime-stricken SachsenLB from collapse, heading off a blow to confidence in the country's financial system. Read more…

Reuters - HBOS , Britain's biggest mortgage lender, said profits are on track to rise 4 percent this year but it will take a 180 million pound ($367.7 million) hit on the value of assets due to the credit crunch, which will also hurt margins. Read more…

AP - The economic outlook for the Asia-Pacific region is the most uncertain it has been since the 1997-98 financial crisis because of a possible spillover from the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis, a regional think tank said Thursday. Read more…

Emily Martin is nine years old and quite sure of herself. So when she saw the news on television that wildfires were spreading across the San Diego area, not far from her family's home in Rancho Bernardo, she instructed her seven-year-old sister Haley to pack a bag. Read more…

FT.com - The slowdown in the UK housing market is deepening, according to an authoritative survey of estate agents that shows price falls spreading across all regions of England and Wales. Expectations for property prices are at their lowest since 1998. Read more…

Reuters - State officials on Wednesday began auditing all of Florida's financial holdings after a state money market fund was hit by a run sparked by fears about subprime mortgage investments. Read more…

AFP - Germany's eastern state of Saxony is prepared to provide a financial guarantee for subprime hit regional bank SachsenLB, the regional finance ministry said Wednesday, as problems piled up at the troubled lender. Read more…

AFP - Troubled mortgage lender Northern Rock will be dropped from London's FSTE 100 index of leading companies later this month, the FTSE Group announced Wednesday in another blow to the battered British bank. Read more…

The Motley Fool - It's becoming abundantly clear that Congress's attempt at housing reform isn't just wrong -- it's ultimately little more than grandstanding. Burglars have bigger windows of opportunity to slip through than the borrowers the plan is ostensibly designed to help. But homeowners who aren't eligible for government aid still have a few solutions available. Read more…

The Motley Fool - There's some good news on the mortgage front for a change. Despite all indications to the contrary, mortgage lending has not come to a grinding halt. In fact, for those who have good credit and qualify for standard fixed-rate loans, mortgages have actually gotten more affordable. Read more…

Reuters - Fraudsters are targeting troubled borrowers facing foreclosure in a scheme that could leave homeowners with even more debt than they otherwise would face, a new online video warns. Read more…

The Motley Fool - Conventional wisdom holds that it's best to buy a home by paying 20% of its price up front. That spares the buyer the expense of private mortgage insurance (PMI), and provides lower monthly payments to boot. Now that the subprime lending crisis has erupted, hurting profits in investment firm Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC - News), homebuilders like Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM - News), and lenders such as Citigroup (NYSE: C - News), Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE - News), and Countrywide (NYSE: CFC - News), the responsible 20% down payment seems even harder to argue with. Read more…