Personal Finance Daily: It's only halftime in the foreclosure crisis

	Personal Finance Daily APRIL 24, 2012 Tuesday's Personal Finance Stories By MarketWatch Don't miss these top stories: Three hidden costs of the foreclosure crisis City-by-city home prices from 20 top markets What's your question for Bernanke? Statistics may indicate that foreclosure activity has been declining, but it's just a slowdown in the approaching flood. Amy Hoak reports today that the Center for Responsible Learning says there are likely to be another 3 million to 5 million foreclosures in the U.S. in the next couple of years. Her column looks at the hidden costs of foreclosure, including the damage to children's education and health, as well as to community safety. Also on MarketWatch today, take a look at our new Markets Stream feature, where you can follow the real-time flow of investing news, commentary and community in one dynamic place. See the new Markets Stream feature. — Anne Stanley , Managing Editor, Personal Finance REAL ESTATE Three hidden costs of the foreclosure crisis Recent statistics show foreclosure activity is declining, but the nation's foreclosure problem is far from over. What's more, the drawn-out foreclosure crisis has lasting consequences for those who have lost their homes as well as the communities surrounding them. Read more: Three hidden costs of the foreclosure crisis. City-by-city home prices from 20 top markets The following is the city-by-city breakdown of the cities followed in the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite that was released Tuesday. Read more: City-by-city home prices from 20 top markets. U.S. home prices fall to nearly decade low U.S. home prices dropped sharply in February to hit the worst level in nearly a decade, according to a closely followed index released Tuesday. Read more: U.S. home prices fall to nearly decade low. Sales of new homes drop 7.1% in March Sales of new U.S. houses fell 7.1% in March, but only because purchases in February were revised sharply higher, according to the latest government data. Slowly rising sales suggest housing-market recovery is still underway. Read more: Sales of new homes drop 7.1% in March. ECONOMY & POLITICS What's your question for Bernanke? The Federal Reserve chairman delivers a news conference on Wednesday, and MarketWatch wants to know what you would ask the world's most powerful central banker. Read more: What's your question for Bernanke? Bernanke's goal: Keep out of the corner The Federal Open Market Committee is expected to only tweak its economic forecasts at its two-day meeting this week, keeping all its options on the table given cross currents in recent economic data, analysts say. Read more: Bernanke's goal: Keep out of the corner. April consumer confidence declines A gauge of U.S. consumer confidence declines for a second month, ticking down in April on lower expectations, even as views on the present situation increase, the Conference Board reports. Read more: April consumer confidence declines. INVESTING Waiting for Wal-Mart's other shoe to drop This past weekend's report of bribery by the retailer's Mexican subsidiary is likely to be only the beginning of the bad news for the company. Read more: Waiting for Wal-Mart's other shoe to drop. Nokia investors are losing patience After running a first-quarter loss of nearly 1 billion euros, mobile-phone maker must show signs of recovery this year to remain competitive, analysts say. Read more: Nokia investors are losing patience. China tops world in shopping-mall construction Chinese cities dominate the world in terms of shopping-mall construction, with the city of Tianjin currently building more retail space than the entire existing shopping-center inventory of any single European city, apart from Paris and Moscow. But is it overbuilding or simply catch-up with the West? Read more: China tops world in shopping-mall construction. Get the latest news on our mobile site: http://www.marketwatch.com/m MarketWatch has sent you this newsletter because you signed up to receive it. To ensure you receive this newsletter in the future, please add marketwatchmail.com to your list of approved senders. Sent to: kumaresan.selva.blogger@gmail.com Unsubscribe | Subscribe Copyright 2012 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved. MarketWatch, the MarketWatch logo, and BigCharts are registered trademarks of MarketWatch, Inc. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy (updated 6/26/07). MarketWatch - Attn: Customer Service, 201 California St., San Francisco, CA 94111