Technology investor Glenn Hutchins had a useful essay in Fortune a few weeks back on the causes of the bubble.

Banks that have received federal aid are using the money as they see fit, in some cases providing new loans to customers, retiring debt or buying mortgage-backed securities, a chief investigator told Congress on Tuesday.

The John Hancock Tower, New England’s tallest office building, sold in a foreclosure auction on Tuesday for $660 million, about half what the sellers paid three years ago, underscoring the crumbling state of the U.S. commercial real estate market.

Having trouble making your monthly mortgage payment? Think you want to try to get your mortgage loan modified? Maybe get a lower interest rate? Or even get the principal balance on your mortgage reduced? Be careful.

Proponents of a long-anticipated upgrade to the interchange of Interstate 494 and Highway 169 likely will have to wait a long time, perhaps decades, for the work if they can’t get it funded by federal stimulus dollars in the next few weeks.