Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama said on Wednesday he is reviewing whether taxpayers are getting maximum bang for the buck from a $700 billion government financial rescue package and indicated particular interest in helping prevent mortgage foreclosures.

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AP - Russia’s government pledged a mortgage buyout Wednesday and announced more aid for major airlines and other companies beyond an existing $200 billion financial rescue package, Russian news agencies reported.
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AP - Northern Rock, the nationalized mortgage lender, said Wednesday it would wait at least six months before moving to repossess homes when payments fall behind.
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Reuters - Former American International Group Inc executive Joseph Cassano is under investigation by U.S. prosecutors for possibly misleading auditors and investors about subprime mortgage-related losses, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the probe.

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BusinessWeek Online - As if they haven’t done enough damage. Thousands of subprime mortgage lenders and brokers — many of them the very sorts of firms that helped create the current financial crisis — are going strong. Their new strategy: taking advantage of a long-standing federal program designed to encourage homeownership by insuring mortgages for […]

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BusinessWeek Online - 1. The Shift
When the subprime market began to collapse in 2006, many lenders and brokers shifted their business to loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration
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AP - Mortgage application volume fell 6.2 percent during the week ended Nov. 14, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly application survey.

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AFP - The two US mortgage finance giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said on Thursday they halt home foreclosures until early January as they modify loans to help keep owners in their homes.

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