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     BARRON'S                                                                   February 26, 2007 

MARKET      WATCH

A Sampling of Advisory Opinion

Edited by Anita Peltonen

Press Clipping

               Benson's Economic & Market Trends

                "That Great Cracking Noise......"

                        Subprime Titanic Hits Iceberg

February 22:  The subprime market is overloaded with bad loans that have effectively smashed holes into the hull of this financial ship.  It's been surprisingly easy for people buying a new house to borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars by simply telling the bank how much money they make - without proof.  It's called a stated-income loan, but many in the industry call it a "liar loan" or "NINA" [no income, no asset verification]; 40% of the subprime market [up to $500 billion] is made up of these loans...[perhaps] half of subprime mortgages had no income verification.....[subprime] mortgages companies are very thinly capitalized and highly levered......21 sizeable subprime lenders have already shut down or filed bankruptcy.

RICHARD BENSON