Some reports from Wall Street and Washington. "Toll Brothers Inc., which earlier this month said its quarterly new-home orders slipped nearly 50% on a slumping housing market, may again reduce its 2006 profit forecast when it reports earnings Tuesday. Analysts will also be looking for details on write-downs Toll said it plans to take for land options it is walking away from."

"The National Association of Realtors is expected to report existing-home sales Wednesday morning, and economists will be watching median prices to see if they fall from the previous year. That would be the first year-over-year decline in over a decade and would damage buyer sentiment, according to Banc of America Securities analyst Daniel Oppenheim."

"Also, the analyst sees the supply of existing homes for sale to rise from 6.8 months in June to more than seven months in July. 'This excess supply will continue to put pressure on home prices,' Oppenheim said."

"The Commerce Department on Thursday is slated to release sales of new homes for July, and economists are predicting a 3% decline. Read more on the outlook for July home sales. Oppenheim noted home builders 'likely limited the decline by increasing incentives or reducing prices.'"

"Lowe's Cos. shares lost as much as 5.5% Monday after second-quarter earnings that came in below analysts' average forecast and cut its profit forecast for the full year. 'Like Home Depot, Lowe's is experiencing the deceleration in sales that typically follows a slowdown in housing turnover,' Goldman Sachs analyst Matthew Fassler, who has Lowe's rated at neutral, wrote in a research note."

"Delisting is a scary prospect for shareholders. Once stocks are off the major exchanges, they're usually much less liquid. Fannie Mae, which finances one of every five home loans in the United States, has been out of compliance with New York Stock Exchange listing standards since 2004, the last time it filed a quarterly earnings report. Yet NYSE hasn't delisted the stock."

"NYSE deciding it was too big to remove. The Exchange sent a proposal to the Securities and Exchange Commission saying that in very rare circumstances, delisting a company would be 'significantly contrary to the national interest and the interests of public investors, notwithstanding a delay in an annual report filing that extended beyond one year.' In January, the SEC agreed. Fannie Mae did not immediately return a call seeking comment."

"While the possibility of delisting is a threat that makes companies take listing requirements seriously, 'the perception is that if you're big enough, like so many things, you are more or less in the drivers' seat,' said Maureen O'Hara, a professor at Cornell University."

"Loans requiring no income check have been around for many years, with the initial intention of offering convenience, time savings and financial privacy to self-employed borrowers with high credit quality and large down payments."

"The desire to simplify and quicken the loan-origination process has led more lenders to extend stated-income loans to borrowers with lower credit scores, higher loan-to-value and debt-to-income ratios than traditionally allowed."

"'The industry is trading risk for convenience,' says Larry Goldstone, at Thornburg Mortgage Inc. in Santa Fe, N.M. 'That may be mistaken at some point in the future.'"

"In the case of Martha Aikens, when she went to the broker to refinance her home, she had a monthly income of about $1,400, including $800 from Social Security and $600 from working part-time. However, her loan application, prepared by the broker, said she made $7,225 a month, according to the complaint filed on May 16, 2005, against the broker in Cook County, Ill."

"A month later, through the broker, Aikens received a loan of $149,000 with a monthly tab of roughly $1,029, almost three-quarters of her entire monthly income. She was never able to make a single payment, says Daniel Lindsey, a supervisory attorney. Her lender, Countrywide, filed a foreclosure action against her in January 2004."

"Standard & Poor's warned last year that it was observing disturbing numbers of minimum-payment loans being extended to borrowers with sub-par credit profiles. To head off potential problems, the largest mortgage originator in the United States, Countrywide Home Loans, has begun sending out letters to thousands of borrowers who have been making only the minimum payments on the company's popular PayOption adjustable-rate mortgages."

"The letters explain that 'this is an early message to alert you that, based on your current payment trends and potential future interest rate changes, the monthly payment you will be required to pay may increase significantly.'"

"According to the Census Bureau report released Monday, Florida topped the list of the states adding the highest number of housing units, gaining 247,000 homes over the period. Following Florida were California (182,000), Texas (179,000), Georgia (98,000) and Arizona (87,000)."