1. Principal Cuts On Lender Menus As Foreclosures Rise [Bloomberg]
Efforts by U.S. banks to help distressed homeowners have focused mainly on temporary fixes such as interest-rate reductions that may only put off the day of reckoning, despite policy makers wanting them to do more.

2. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke: Don't Blame Us For Housing Crisis [New York Daily News]
Lower-than-low interest rates didn't cause the catastrophic housing bubble - it was a lack of regulation, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said Sunday in a speech defending government fiscal policy.

3. Diane Saatchi Jumps Ship [East Hampton Star]
Diane Saatchi recently jumped ship from the Corcoran mega-real-estate conglomerate to Saunders, a young, Bridgehampton boutique firm. Saatchi said on Tuesday the move was strictly personal, some see it as an indicator that agents may be gravitating toward midsize and smaller firms that offer more support in the wake of advertising budget cuts at big-name companies.

4. Encouraging Contemporary Design [Southampton Village Review]
At one of the Architectural Review Board public hearings last August, Zachary Studenroth, the historic consultant to the board, commented that he had been encouraging the board to be supportive of contemporary interpretations of traditional design. That would be a great thing if it were monitored by a group of more qualified individuals. When it comes to architectural history, Zach is very qualified. When it comes to design unrelated to historic structures, Zach should hold back.

5. Geithner's Fed Told AIG To Limit Swaps Disclosure [Bloomberg]
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, then led by Timothy Geithner, told American International Group Inc. to withhold details from the public about the bailed-out insurer's payments to banks during the depths of the financial crisis, e-mails between the company and its regulator show.