The impact investing industry channels capital to market-based solutions in areas such as affordable housing, clean technology, financial services for the poor, sustainable agriculture and other related sectors while targeting returns ranging from below market to market rate.

FORBES: Rockefeller And Tony Elumelu Foundation Launch African Impact Fund

In the housing market, Hovnanian Enterprises has created an IT-based system that makes it easier for home buyers to select new options and add-ons they would not otherwise have known about.

FORBES: The CIO As Revenue Rainmaker: 7 Excellent Examples

To determine which cities feature the best real estate deals, we looked at three sets of data in the March 2009 RPX Monthly Housing Market Report, distributed by Radar Logic Incorporated, a New York-based derivatives firm.

FORBES: Magazine Article

That secondary market was rocked as the housing boom ended, more borrowers defaulted and thousands of AAA-rated securities based on those debt obligations tumbled.

WSJ: NY attorney general looks at ratings agencies

Magnetar told investors this week that it based its mortgage-CDO strategy on statistical models, not a fundamental belief that the housing market would slide.

WSJ: Paulson Confronts Goldman Fallout