Wall Street had some housing bubble news today. "FMF Capital Group Ltd. is a residential mortgage lending company that originates and funds primarily nonconforming or 'nonprime,' mortgage loans in the United States and sells those mortgage loans to institutional loan purchasers."

"Based on financial results for the month of February, the Board of Directors has decided to exercise the company's contractual right to defer the payment of interest on its subordinated notes..for the month of February. The Board of Directors expects to defer interest for the month of March and..in addition, no dividends will be paid on the common shares for the month February."

"Legislation being weighed in the U.S. Congress to stiffen supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must force cuts in the mortgage giants' portfolios, a U.S. Treasury Department official said on Tuesday. Secretary John Snow said a fair analysis of the companies' $1.4 trillion portfolios would show they are now larger than needed."

"Credit Suisse issued its 2007 earnings estimates for the home-building companies which factor in slowing housing starts, selective price increases and a heavy reliance on incentives. The analysts wrote that the 2007 estimates 'assume a soft landing scenario, as earnings declines are largely driven by the unfavorable land price to land costs dynamic with volume gains unable to make up for the difference.'"

"If the companies force supply on the market, 'earnings could come under greater pressure than we presently anticipate with too much product chasing a dwindling pie of buyers,' Credit Suisse added."

"The broker said Pulte was one of the first builders to see margin pressure in the fourth quarter of 2005, while the company has a significant presence in decelerating Phoenix..the analysts upgraded M/I Homes on 'an attractive valuation that more than reflects its greater than average exposure to troubled Midwest markets'...M/I Homes is heavily ramping its communities in Florida and the Mid-Atlantic."

JP Morgan has this in a report on Barrons. "We observe that at the time of this writing, the weekly Mortgage Banker's Association Purchasing Index (MBA-PI) is now down 11.7% as of the first week in March from year-ago levels. Second, we find that the average monthly observations of this index have now declined for three consecutive months through February 2006."

"The last time that the MBA-PI monthly data declined for three consecutive months was during September 1999. One year later, (i.e., September 2000), housing starts had dipped by 5.3% on a year-over-year basis..the latest three consecutive monthly declines in the MBA-PI add up on a cumulative basis, to almost twice the overall decline observed in January 2005. Most importantly, one has to go all the way back to September 1999 to find another comparable period in which the average monthly reading of this index actually declined for three consecutive months."

"With such compelling evidence in hand, we remain convinced that a 5% to 6% easing in housing starts over the next year appears to be a very reasonable expectation."

"Forbes.com spoke about these nontraditional mortgages with Bill Emerson, CEO of Quicken Loans, the largest online mortgage lender, which closed $16 billion of home loans in 2005, compared with $12 billion the year before."

"Forbes.com: You have said you don't think there's a housing bubble. Emerson: A housing bubble? No, I don't think there's a housing bubble. We've been talking about it now for three or four years, and I think if we talk about it long enough, sooner or later it may eventually happen."