July 1 (Bloomberg) — Banks are buying the mortgage-backed bonds that hobbled the global financial system, helping to sustain higher prices for the debt, according to Federal Reserve data, investors and traders.

Large U.S. commercial banks held $154.6 billion in mortgage securities that lack government backing on June 17, an increase of 5.6 percent since April, Fed data show. Typical prices for the most-senior such securities backed by prime-jumbo mortgages have risen to 75 cents on the dollar from 63 cents in March, according to Barclays Capital. (more…)

We spoke with the Fess Parker Wine Country Inn in Los Olivos, Calif. — which is located less than a mile from Neverland Ranch. They tell us that once news hit Jackson’s body might be coming to Neverland, they sold out in just 20 minutes! They are booked up solid from Thursday until Saturday.

We talked to two other hotels nearby and they say the same thing — sold out.

The deal announced Friday is another example of how the cataclysm that hit Detroit’s three carmakers is reshaping the global automotive landscape in profound ways, reducing their worldwide influence and — if Saturn turns out as Penske envisions — opening new markets to smaller companies. (more…)

Florida, in particular, has enjoyed enormous success in boosting both early childhood literacy and the percentage of minority students prepared for college. Florida’s education reforms have slashed fourth grade illiteracy by 32 percent in 10 years. During the same period, the percentage of Florida students scoring “Proficient” on the Nation’s Report Card’s fourth grade reading test increased by 54 percent and the percentage scoring “Advanced” doubled.

Minority students have been a large contributing factor to that success. Florida’s Hispanic students now outscore the statewide averages for all students in 15 states on national fourth grade reading tests, including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Florida’s African-American students outscore two statewide averages — Louisiana and Mississippi — and are within striking distance of several others. (more…)

People looking to buy more expensive homes next year will have fewer options to find financing because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will have lower limits on the size of loans they can buy.

The changes, effective Jan. 1, will lower the limit in Los Angeles and other high-priced real estate markets to $625,500, down from $729,950. Consumers who need to take out mortgages above that amount typically pay higher interest rates for a so-called jumbo loan, which can price some would-be buyers out of the market.

For example, jumbo loans typically used to finance more expensive homes remain hard to obtain.

Before credit standards were tightened in August 2007, some 40 percent of Southern California home sales were financed with jumbo loans. In September, they accounted for just 13 percent of loans used to finance homes costing more than $417,000, said San Diego-based MDA DataQuick.

Loan limits vary by metro area and are based on the local median house price. So falling home values in some markets have pulled the loan limits down with them.

In the Boston area, for example, the limit will fall to $465,750 from $523,750. In the Baltimore area, it is scheduled to drop to $494,500 from $560,000.

And while the limit in the Los Angeles metro area will drop to $625,500 it will fall to $598,000 in neighboring Ventura County.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which egulates Fannie and Freddie, kept the limit for lower-cost metro areas at $417,000.

Lawmakers temporarily raised the loan limits for Fannie and Freddie in an economic stimulus bill passed in February and revised them in a housing bill passed over the summer.

There are fears that the reduced limits will hurt the housing market next year. Fannie and Freddie have become the dominant source of mortgage funding since last year’s collapse of the subprime lending market.

The National Association of Realtors is pressing lawmakers to keep the limit at $729,950.

Do you know what to spend money on? If you are like most insurance agents, you will want to spend the majority of your budget on marketing related expenses. While this is a broad category, there is one area that you may want to specialize on: buying insurance leads online. Believe it or not, this is the best way to spend your marketing dollars. Sure, there are other options that may return results, but if you want to achieve a high level of success buying leads is something to seriously consider.

What is the point in spending money on leads? First and foremost, when you buy leads you do not have to spend a lot on other methods of marketing such as newspaper ads, billboards, etc. Additionally, buying online insurance leads will also save you a lot of time. And as you know, time is at a premium for most agents. You want to make sure that you are always spending as much time as possible on selling policies as opposed to other tasks.

Use your marketing dollars smartly, such as on the purchase of leads, and you will find that you are making more money than ever before.

For a limited time, QotesAuction.com is offering $200 worth of free leads to agents who setup and activate an account.

“I’m always broke, and I don’t know how to escape it,” said Jen Goldberg, a Communication freshman.

But before you resort to prostitution, money laundering, selling your prescription drugs for money or other potentially illegal alternatives, remember that Northwestern offers a number of opportunities for the cash-starved to increase their bank accounts.

Sign up for Kellogg studies. Kellogg studies are a goldmine of money for starving college students. After filling out a demographic survey, students are offered a selection of studies that pay anywhere from about $8 for 30 minutes to $15 for an hour. An enterprising student could theoretically do two to three studies a week, netting about $30.

“I’ve heard of people getting $65 a week through Kellogg studies,” Goldberg said.

Be warned, though: Kellogg studies are not always a sure bet for laundry money. Since each participant is assigned studies based on demographics, there are times when no studies that fit you are available.

Become a secret shopper. While becoming a secret shopper can bring in steady money, from $5 to more than $20 for one job, there are dangers. Scammers offer jobs to prospective secret shoppers, but request they spend around $40 to receive offers. No legitimate organization will make you pay to join. Secret shoppers need free time and a good memory, because they are often required to ask questions of employees, spend time in the store and, afterwards, fill out detailed questionnaires. It’s not for everyone, but if it sounds like your cup of tea, then jobs are plentiful. You can find a list of certified agencies at the Mystery Shopping Providers Association website.

Babysit. We know you stopped putting flyers in your neighbor’s mailboxes for your cheap knock-off of The Baby-sitters Club once you entered high school. But since that allowance disappeared and your income sank back to a pre-waiting-tables level, keeping an eye on some terrible tykes for a few hours is tempting. You won’t be forced to return to multi-colored flyers, however: Sitter City can help you find needy couples near Evanston. Plus, babysitting pays notoriously well – you could net between $20 and $100 in a night, and still have time to go out afterwards.

Sacrifice your mind to the psychology department. Psychology studies can be more lucrative and entertaining than Kellogg studies, although sometimes more scary, too. Instead of debating economics or crunching numbers, psych studies can leave you sleep-deprived or a mess with goop in your hair after having electrodes attached to your head. Look for psychology experiments on bulletin boards across campus. Although many of these pay similarly to Kellogg studies, some studies have been spotted that could net participants up to $1000 dollars. Keep your eyes open, but don’t forget that the high-paying studies often require hours of effort on your part.

Sell your clothes at Crossroads. Medill freshman Lynnanne Nguyen recommends selling your clothes at Crossroads Trading Company, next to Cos? on Sherman. Crossroads accepts clean, stylish clothes for cash. While they typically offer 35 percent of resell value for used clothing, you can net up to 50 percent if you’re willing to forfeit instant cash and trade your clothes for other items in the store instead. Don’t just drag in whatever clothes you can find on the floor of your closet, though: Crossroads only accepts brand-name clothing, so leave your carefully hand-stitched skirts at home. Follow Crossroads’ tips for selling to net about $30 dollars.

Skip the Norris bookstore and sell your old books on Amazon. Norris may rip you off when it buys back books, but it’s certainly convenient. Thor Rudebeck, a Communication junior, remembers the time he sold a book to Norris — receiving only 25 cents back from the $5 cover price. The greater profit margins online justify any extra work involved in dragging your books to the FedEx store. While Norris usually only pays back 25 to 50 percent, you can net a 75 percent profit – and sometimes more – selling your books on Amazon, Half.com or other online retailers. If you’re anything like me, with a pile of old textbooks in your room three feet high and growing, take an hour to list all your books online. Every book may not sell instantly, but the profits should provide you with steady laundry and liquor money.

Have your own bake sale. While this approach takes start-up money (and a working kitchen), it can reap you profits and friends. Can you bake delicious cookies or cake? Take a seat by the Rock, Tech or the Arch with a bag of delicious delicacies and wait for people to flock to you. Assuming you didn’t spend too much on supplies, you should be able to make a healthy profit, or at least enough to feed yourself a tasty BK dinner for the next few days. (Jamie Wiebe)

Traditionally, “stringers” have been little old ladies who gossiped across the back fence, found out who visited whom over the weekend and wrote it up for the local Clarion. Each LOL was paid by the column inch for such drivel and she kept track of the amount of her copy that was used by measuring it off with a piece of string in which she tied knots to mark the length of each column. At the end of the month the LOL sent the Clarion editor her ball of twine of received a check in return.

While there are still a few such stringers around, the kind of “social” columns they produce for small weeklies are rapidly being replaced by more new worthy stories and articles. If you can write these “harder” features (especially from an out-of-the-way area), you should be able to sell them to the larger metropolitan dailies. Such newspapers cannot afford to send union reporters to every area the publications serve, and so they rely on free-lance correspondents to gather the news in small communities and rural counties. (more…)

According to the latest annual real estate trends survey from PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute, which collates opinions from 485 industry professionals, London has fallen out of the top 10 European cities for both investment and development prospects for the first time.

The British capital was ranked 15th out of 27 European cities for investment prospects, while for development prospects it was ranked 13th. Last year, London made second place for investment and fourth place for development.

Moscow and Istanbul are now the new darlings of the sector, ranked first and second respectively for both investment and development prospects. Whereas London is facing a slump similar to America’s, with house prices declining and consumer confidence down, Russia and Turkey offer strong economic growth prospects and buying opportunities across residential, office and retail. (See “Blimey! London Property Slides”)

“Investors had two real concerns about the U.K.,” said John Forbes, head of U.K. real estate at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. “One was the broader economy–are things actually going to get worse? And the second, which is key, was the extent to which London is dependent on the financial services industry.”

Survey respondents said that they were concerned by the exposure of the London office sector to financial firms, but there was also the sentiment that this would spread to personal spending. London’s retail property sector also got the highest “sell” rating out of all 27 cities covered in the survey, echoing wider issues with commercial property in Britain as credit conditions tighten. (See “REIT British Land…Slides”)

PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ Forbes told Forbes.com that there was now a real appetite for emerging markets, with high oil prices boosting Russian spending power in particular. And even as Western markets suffer from an end to the days of cheap credit, some of the survey respondents believed it would help bring distorted real estate markets back to normal.

“A number of the people interviewed for the report felt that one of the drivers for real estate markets had been the availability of debt,” said Forbes. “So the financial engineering of deals had been in some ways more important than real estate fundamentals.”