Even if they have a down payment, many lack the two-year uninterrupted income stream many banks are requiring.

FORBES: Plenty Of Profit In Store For Commercial Real Estate

Down by the rushing stream, banks of wild yellow irises shimmered in the twilight, and up in the vaulted corridor that the tracks cut through the trees, the mild June air was filled with twinkling green fireflies.

NPR: Excerpt: 'World Made By Hand'

Last month, more than a dozen homes were flooded in Burton Fleming when the Gypsey Race stream burst its banks.

BBC: Flooded street at Burton Fleming

On the legal side of business, I still get a stream of credit card solicitations from the big banks via direct mail, and not via e-mail (partly for security issues).

FORBES: Snail Mail: It's not dead yet!

SIVs provide a steadier stream of data to investors than most of the banks backing them.

ECONOMIST: Securitisation

The banks are thus having to disclose ever bigger write-offs, contributing to fear of recession in America both indirectly, by delivering a stream of bad news, and directly, by constraining banks' ability to lend (see article).

ECONOMIST: Business and the credit crunch