MSN Money and Reuters host a passionate tell-all discussion exploring the American housing crisis. REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- What does the futureof the American real-estate market look like? Will a one-size-fits-allsolution work? What should the government do? For answers to these andother questions about the current housing crisis, MSN Money and Reutersrecently hosted a compelling and timely panel discussion in conjunctionwith the Reuters Housing Summit, in which Toll Brothers Inc. CEO Bob Toll,Seabreeze Partners Management Inc.'s head Doug Kass, NeighborhoodAssistance Corp. of America CEO Bruce Marks, and MSN Money Senior MarketsEditor Jim Jubak examined the current state of the housing market, debatedpotential remedies and offered insight into what's ahead. PatrickFitzgibbons, editor in charge of Equities at Reuters, moderated thediscussion, asking tough questions that sparked debate, controversy andcommentary throughout the room. Who is to fault? The homeowner? The lender?These questions and more drew influential guests from the banking,investing and real estate world as well as the financial press to the 30thfloor of the Reuters Building in New York, Wednesday evening, Feb. 20,2008. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO) As Congress takes up the issue again this week, and with millions ofhomeowners facing foreclosure, home prices sliding, financial institutionssuffering huge losses, and the overall crisis threatening a recession, theimmensity of the housing crisis was clear. The conclusion? Despite theirdifferent perspectives, all the panelists agreed that it has been anenormously bad few years for the entire housing sector, and they were not,as a group, optimistic that things were going to get a whole lot betterbefore 2009 rolls around. All agreed that it is a complicated issue totackle, and it is difficult to determine when we will have the answers tothe many questions on this topic. "While the moods of our guests at the summit swayed from hopeful toconcerned to despairing, the tone of the panel discussion was definitelyhigh-spirited and touched on some valuable insights," said Fitzgibbons,moderator of the panel discussion. "It may just be a wait-and-see type ofsituation, but it's our hope that these discussions will help bring uscloser to finding the solutions." "The past year has been a roller coaster ride for everyone involved inthe housing market, and there's clearly a lot of emotion at play here,"said Chris Jolley, of the MSN News, Analysis and Local Publishing Group."By collaborating with Reuters and expanding our strategic alliance withthem, it is our goal to bring this passionate discussion front and centerso we can all take a closer look at where we've been, where we're headedand what can possibly be done in the future to course-correct." MSN Money (http://money.msn.com) will host video from the panel. Toview it, and for ongoing discussion around the topic, readers can visithttp://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/topstocks/archive/2008/02/21/update-silver- lining-in-quot-bad-news-quot-on-housing.aspx. The panel discussion was part of the Reuters Housing Summit, which tookplace Feb. 19-21, 2008. All the exclusives and full coverage of the summitcan be seen at http://www.reuters.com/summit/Housing08. About MSN Money MSN Money is a premier online financial resource, providing greatoriginal editorial content plus the tools and community to empowerinvestors and engage spenders and savers. Taxpayers can find helpful taxtips, checklists, a tax estimator and the Deduction Finder to help themmake informed decisions about filing. MSN Money also helps users stayinformed with in-depth and up-to-the-minute data, investmentrecommendations, valuable tracking tools, and opportunities to connect withother active investors to make smart financial decisions. MSN Money islocated on the Web at http://www.money.msn.com. About Microsoft Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader insoftware, services and solutions that help people and businesses realizetheir full potential.
