ABS

McGraw-Hill Cos. announced today that its quarterly earnings fell 44% due to business dropping at its Standard & Poor's unit.

RealtyTrac reported that foreclosure filings in the first quarter were up 23% from 4Q07, and up 112% from a year ago. The firm said that one in every 194 households received a foreclosure filing during the quarter.

The Case-Shiller home price index fell sharply in February. The 20-city index dropped significantly by 2.6% in February, which is not annualized. The index's fall has accelerated from the 2.3% drop in January and the 2.1% dip in both November and December. According to RBS Greenwich Capital, that works out to a 24% annualized home prices drop in the 20 cities measured for the November to February period. February marked the sixth consecutive month where every one of the 20 cities posted a monthly home price decline, said RBSGC analysts. Las Vegas, Phoenix, Miami, and all of the major cities in California registered the sharpest dips, the firm reported.

Radian Group announced that it presented a comprehensive business and financial plan to the GSEs earlier this month, as a result of its drop in ratings to single-A.

Jefferies & Co. made news last week when it hired 10 senior executives for its mortgage-backed securities trading group, in an effort to expand its fixed-income business.

European cash spreads continue to show signs of tightening. This indicates that investors might be stepping back into the arena.

Fitch Ratings last week highlighted the ability of U.K. CMBS transactions to support significant market value declines.

The three major rating agencies came under attack again last week when the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held a meeting about the agencies' role in the current credit markets turmoil. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) presided over the hearings.

Through Tuesday, mortgages had made tremendous gains on better buying, below normal supply, tighter swap spreads and lower volatility from the middle of the previous week.

The commoditized CDO market might be kaput, but Avon,

Continued downgrades of market value structures (MVS) - and subsequent restructurings in some cases - have called attention to their sensitivity to pricing dislocations.

The Bank of England threw another lifeline to banks last week, unveiling a new GBP50 billion ($99.3 billion) special liquidity scheme (SLS)

Not all real estate investors are sitting on the sidelines as the mortgage market continues to take a beating.

What a difference the need for cash makes. The securitization market did a brisk business in consumer ABS paper last week, oversubscribing to a USAA auto deal and blowing out a Discover Financial Services credit card transaction.

At the onset of CDO troubles this past summer, market participants predicted that tough times would weed out the established players from the fly-by-night shops. As the CLO market begins to pick up, it appears the predictions might be coming true.

By any standards, Brazilian consumer debt is exploding. The balance of credit cards, payroll-deductible loans, unsecured loans and auto loans totaled R$264 billion ($1.57 billion) at the end of 2007, up 29% from a year earlier.

Dan Sparks, the head of Goldman Sachs' mortgage business, is leaving the firm.

Fitch Ratings has issued a statement responding to the International Organization of Securities Commissions' (IOSCO) consultation report titled The Role of Credit Rating Agencies in Structured Finance Markets. The statement follows the submission of joint comments by the major rating agencies.

FTSE Group appointed Ronnee Ades as business unit head in alternatives. Ades will be responsible for driving growth within FTSE’s existing alternative asset class index series, which includes REITs, commercial property, hedge funds, private banking and infrastructure. She will also focus on identifying opportunities in new alternative asset classes.

The ABX reports released late Friday showed 60+ delinquencies increasing, although at slightly slower rates. Analysts from Merrill Lynch attributed the rise to seasonality. The delinquency increase for the ABX indices was expected and is based on the roll rates and the 30-59 and 60-89 day delinquency pipelines. However, the pace of increase in 60+ day delinquency levels seems to be slowing.