Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Bloomberg, "IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG replaced its CEO and said profit will be 'significantly' lower than forecast, hit by the U.S. subprime mortgage rout that it said 10 days ago would not affect it. The bank said in a statement it had to scrap its 280 million-euro ($382 million) earnings forecast as 'massive uncertainty' in the markets threatens access to funding."

"State-owned KfW Group, which holds a 38 percent stake in IKB, said it will cover the company against potential losses. 'One can only gawp at what happened,' said Konrad Becker, an analyst at Merck Finck in Munich. 'I'm asking myself whether KfW will be keeping its stake in the longer term.'"

"The bond market experienced 'violent fluctuations' last week and IKB's creditworthiness was being questioned because of its exposure to subprime, the company said today. The ABX-HE-BBB- 06-1 index, tied to mortgage-backed bonds with the lowest investment-grade ratings, fell 17 percent last week, increasing this year's drop to more than 60 percent, according to (the) administrator of the indexes."

"Default swaps on Dusseldorf-based IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG IKB bonds jumped, trading at six times the prices of a month ago."

"Investors are fleeing corporate credit at the fastest pace in seven years, Barclays Capital said in a report. More than 40 companies have abandoned or reworked loan and bond sales as yield premiums on corporate bonds rose to the highest relative to U.S. Treasuries since 2003."

"'It's pure fear,' said Gary Jenkins, a partner at London- based hedge fund Synapse Investment Management, which manages $650 million of debt assets. 'It's fear of the unknown, fear of hedge funds unwinding, fear of knock-on effects of the subprime meltdown.'"

"Hedge funds and insurers have reported declines in their subprime investments after adjusting their value to reflect the falls, a process known as marking to market. 'The winds and rain have not fully subsided,' Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. fixed-income analysts led by Jack Malvey said in a research note dated today. 'The storm may not fully abate until the end-of-month marks on July 31 and a day or two of final damage reassessment.'"

"'Subprimemania is spilling into the real economy,' said Jochen Felsenheimer, head of credit derivatives strategy at UniCredit SpA in Munich. 'IKB's statement was an end for those who believed this is a derivatives linked problem only.'"

"Default swaps linked to D.R Horton Inc., the second-biggest U.S. homebuilder, are quadruple their level of June 1. D.R. Horton, which last week posted an $823.8 million net loss, jumped $22,000 to $410,000."

"Credit swaps on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the U.S. government-chartered companies that are the largest providers of money for U.S. home loans, have almost tripled this month, with both contracts trading at $29,000 today, according to CMA."

From Reuters. "American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. shares sank on Monday after the home loan provider announced 'major' writedowns, delayed a dividend and said lenders were demanding it put up more cash."

"The announcement late Friday evening reflects how liquidity and credit issues affecting subprime lenders are extending to companies that make home loans to borrowers considered to be good credit risks."

"American Home specializes in prime and near-prime loans. It has, however, made many loans that allow borrowers to produce little documentation. The company recently commanded a roughly 2.5 percent share of the U.S. mortgage market."

"'Bankruptcy is not out of the question,' said Matt Howlett, an analyst at Fox-Pitt Kelton Inc.. 'It needs to find a partner with alternative funding and hope the market turns around. It's going to be tough.'"

"He added, 'It's clear now we're in a liquidity crisis. Any loans that aren't pure prime are falling in value.'"

"'The disruption in the credit markets in the past few weeks has been unprecedented in the company's experience and has caused major writedowns of its loan and security portfolios and consequently has caused significant margin calls with respect to its credit facilities,' the company said."

The Street.com. "American Home Mortgage...delayed paying its quarterly dividends, citing margin calls and writedowns."

"The Melville, N.Y., lender said it delayed the payments 'in order to preserve liquidity until it obtains a better understanding of the impact that current market conditions in the mortgage industry and the broader credit market will have on the company's balance sheet and overall liquidity.'"

"American Home is not the only Alt-A lender feeling pain. Alliance Bancorp, an Alt-A lender in Brisbane, Calif., shut its doors this month. According to a letter posted on its Web site on July 13, CEO Lisa Duehring said Alliance had 'exhausted our resources' and 'do not have the means to move forward.'"

"The U.S. credit markets opened with an 'extremely negative tone' on Monday, with credit default swaps sharply wider amid fears that fallout from subprime mortgage losses is spreading, according to Barclays."

"'The subprime losses, which most investors had assumed would be absorbed by otherwise profitable banking operations, now appear to be spilling over into the markets at large,' Barclays said in a report."

The Baltimore Sun. "Black & Decker is having trouble selling lock sets for doors. Most lock sets are installed in new homes. And new homes aren't selling."

"'The fact is, the housing market has everyone spooked,' said Bob Goldsborough, VP of research at Ariel Capital Management, Black & Decker's second-largest shareholder. 'The results that you see in Black & Decker today are not all that surprising. You're seeing this play out in any area that housing touches. Demand is really, really weak, and it's going to be weak for a while.'"

"'Black & Decker is not alone,' said R. Bentley Offutt, a securities analyst. 'Companies that are related to the homebuilding industry are all having a rough day of it.'"

The St Petersburg Times. "It's no secret that the housing malaise is infecting other industries. But the variety of those affected keeps growing."

"Car retailing giant AutoNation, parent of the AutoWay dealerships in the Tampa Bay area: 'Results for the first three and six months of 2007 were adversely impacted by a decline in new vehicle sales especially in California and Florida, driven in part by continued weakness in the housing market. To the extent that we continue to see weakness in the housing market, we anticipate that our sales trends will be adversely impacted.'"

"Boat manufacturer Brunswick Corp.: 'Higher interest rates, weak housing markets and higher prices for fuel, food and other essentials have continued to erode consumers' disposable income. Further, the depressed housing situation is most pronounced in Florida and California, which are two of the nation's largest boating markets,' said CEO Dustan E. McCoy."

"Media General, parent of the Tampa Tribune: 'Our second-quarter results mostly reflected a decrease in publishing division operating profit, driven primarily by a significant decline at the Tampa Tribune.' said CEO Marshall N. Morton. 'Florida's economy...has dramatically reversed, driven by an adjustment in the housing market following several record-breaking years.'"

"U.S. foreclosures rose 58 percent in the first half of 2007 from a year earlier, led by California and Florida, as more homeowners fell behind on their monthly mortgage payments, RealtyTrac Inc. said."

"The company for the first time reported on what it calls 'unique addresses,' or properties that have had at least one foreclosure- related legal filing. In previous reports, RealtyTrac had only reported the number of legal filings, which could have resulted in properties being double and triple counted."

The Star Telegram. "The national housing slump brought a crashing end to D.R. Horton's 29-year streak of profits. CEO Donald Tomnitz said there is no relief in sight."

"Tomnitz cited several reasons for Horton's continued troubles: Larger incentives to buyers are cutting into profits. Higher prices and higher interest rates are reducing buyers' ability to afford new homes. Tighter mortgage financing is affecting the buyer pool."

"'In some instances across the country, we're trying to qualify the same buyer two and three times, based upon the changing conditions in the marketplace,' Tomnitz said."

From CNN Money. "A hedge fund manager whose fund ran into trouble from the sell-off in securities backed by subprime mortgages is having to put his huge yacht up for sale."

"John Devaney, the CEO of United Capital Markets, a fund that specializes in buying and selling bonds that are backed by the mortgage payments, particularly adjustable rate subprime mortgages, has put his 142-foot yacht up for sale, according to a yacht broker's Web site."

"Devaney told Money magazine this spring that despite problems that the loans cause for borrowers, the assets backed by them provided a good return for his fund."

"'The consumer has to be an idiot to take on those loans,' he said. 'But it has been one of our best-performing investments.'"