Bad Economic News

First a great quote by Jeremy
"This credit crunch is completely intellectually challenging and exciting. If you like to have real problems, this is absolute heaven." - Jeremy Grantham

Don't usually do this but below are several links. The market so far is performing spectacularly today. Though we are down 70 I thought we would have been down 150 plus with all the bad news today.

Auto Delinquinces at 10 Year Highs
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/02/14/ap4657184.html (that was actually from a couple of days ago)

Auto loans at least two months delinquent hit a 10-year high in January, Fitch Ratings said Thursday, signaling the continued spread of consumer weakness to beyond homes and credit cards.

Mortgage Applications down 22.6% From Last Week
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/week-to-week-mortgage-applications-down-226/story.aspx?guid=%7B3A682454%2D3138%2D44D8%2DB070%2DC048AFB1298E%7D

Mortgage applications filed last week dropped a seasonally adjusted 22.6% from the previous week, as interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages increased, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.

Single Family Housing Starts Lowest Since Jan 2001
http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/2008/02/single-family-housing-starts-lowest.html

Privately-owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,012,000. This is 0.8 percent above the revised December estimate of 1,004,000, but is 27.9 percent below the revised January 2007 rate of 1,403,000.

KKR Financial Defaulted on Commercial Paper Repayments
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aCdfA.1HthrE&refer=home

KKR Financial Holdings LLC, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.'s publicly traded fixed-income fund, delayed repaying asset-backed commercial paper and started restructuring talks with creditors.

As I said, the market is so far hanging in there like a champ. If it wasn't for the huge reversal yesterday from positive to negative I would think this may actually be bullish.