Those 3 Magic Words

Great recommendation... Two weeks ago: Citigroup recommended that investors buy residential-construction companies' stocks because the bottom was near. SAY WHAT???

That view would surprise people in Southern California, where DataQuick Information Systems reported Tuesday that sales of houses and condominiums fell 29.9% from the previous month and 48.5% from last year.

Those 3 little magic words...

No, not "I Love You" but "Your under investigation". The SEC has opened an informal investigation on the stock sales of Countrywide s CEO Angelo "Fog a Mirror, Get a Loan" Mozilo.

The Dead Pool... Punk Ziegel downgraded WaMu because it does not believe that the company will be allowed to maintain its dividend and because there is no visibility as to when this company's loan loss issues will dissipate.

Calling All Loans... Dusseldorf-based IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG had to be bailed out this year by a group led by German state-owned KfW Group because of potential losses related to subprime loans.

Today, Rhinebridge Plc, a SIV structured investment vehicle run by IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG, said it may not be able to pay back debt related to $23 billion in commercial paper programs.

Rhinebridge was set up by IKB in June to sell short-term commercial paper to invest in securities with longer maturities and higher yields, including mortgage-backed debt.

Rhinebridge suffered a "mandatory acceleration event" after IKB's asset management arm determined the SIV may be unable to repay debt coming due.

A mandatory acceleration event means all of the SIV's debt is now due. Time to pay up or shut down.

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