ABS

New home dropped 0.6% in June to 530,000, although the result was better than expected, according to an RBS Greenwich Capital report. This particularly true if you take into consideration that the figures in March, April, and May were all revised up by a combined 50,000 units.

Single-family existing-home sales fell 2.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.86 million units in June from a pace of 4.99 million in May, and are 15.5% lower than the 5.75 million-unit rate in June 2007, according to yesterday’s National Association of Realtors release.

Manager Activity: AutosFull Credit to Book (Equal if Joint) U.S. Public ABS Market/144A Market

Freddie Mac reported that 66% of Freddie Mac-owned loans that were refinanced resulted in new mortgages with loan amounts that were at least 5% higher than the original loan balance in 2Q08,.

Freddie Mac reported a huge jump in mortgage rates this week. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 6.63%, up 37 basis points from last week's 6.26% average. This is the highest mortgage rates have been since August 2, 2007 when it was at 6.68%.

National City Corp. swung to a second-quarter loss as credit losses continued to surge. The company, which sees lower credit-loss provisions in the second half of the year, said it is the best-capitalized bank among its peer group.

The House voted yesterday to pass a massive housing reform package that extends a lifeline to beleaguered mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and is laden with tax-exempt bond provisions, including the elimination of the alternative minimum tax for housing bonds.

GMAC Financial yesterday named Thomas Marano as ResCap’s chairman and chief executive officer, effective immediately.

A compromise housing bill emerged late Tuesday that finally appears to bridge the gap between House and Senate banking leaders.

Assured Guaranty yesterday sought to reassure investors about its future, while market participants considered the possibility of a municipal market with no more bond insurers rated triple-A by all three major rating agencies. This came one day after Moody’s Investors Service announced it had put both Assured Guaranty Corp. and Financial Security Assurance on watch for possible downgrade.

Avon, Conn.-based Structured Finance Advisors (SFA), which has been an investor in the ABS and MBS sectors since 1993, is teaming up with two commercial mortgage veterans to set up a fund that will take advantage of the current lack of market liquidity in the sector, according to Joe Lorusso, president at the firm.

General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. have about a 46% chance of default within five years, according to Bloomberg .

Jonathan Kempner, president and chief executive officer of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), will be stepping down on Dec 31, according to an MBA release.

Wachovia reported a second quarter net loss of $8.9 billion today, and, consequently,will exit its general bank wholesale mortgage origination channel.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) reported that home prices slipped a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in May. This is an improvement from April's 0.8% decline. Year over year, prices are down 4.8%.

Mark Tonnesen resigned as president, chief executive officer, and director of last week.

Legacy Benefits has named Mark Hirshorn to head its capital market efforts, according to yesterday’s release.

Moody's Investors Service late Monday put the ratings of triple-A bond insurers Financial Security Assurance and Assured Guaranty Corp. on review for possible downgrade.

Prospect Mortgage’s acquisition of the majority of IndyMac's retail mortgage branches is scheduled to close on Aug. 7 despite IndyMac's current troubles, according to yesterday’s Prospect release.

Fortress Investment Group has invested an extra $200 million into its fund for buying distressed triple-A-rated RMBS, according to published reports.