The Wall Street vet has high hopes for housing, but Cramer isn’t so sure about the call.   Read More

I don’t know why all the wires are leading with the quote from Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-NY today, that “The commercial real estate time bomb is ticking.” I’d venture to say it’s exploding all over the place. She made the comment at a hearing she chaired of Congress’ Joint Economic Committee.    Read More

With apologies to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, The Boys of Summer (Don Henley) are gathered once again for their annual G8 summer clam bake, so let's crank up the tunes...   Read More

Weekly jobless claims and June's chain store sales reports will compete Thursday with whatever positive effect remains from Alcoa's narrower-than-expected loss.   Read More

Call me old-fashioned, but I still believe in that whole supply and demand thing; that’s why I’m slightly obsessed with the inventory of existing homes floating around the nation’s local MLS’s and more importantly those not floating around the MLS’s. I’m talking about the inventory of foreclosed properties that banks are holding onto, refusing to unleash onto the sales market.    Read More

Here comes the corporate earnings season, and there's no doubt it will be more important than most. Alcoa's after-the-bell report Wednesday signals the start of the second quarter reporting period, which traders say could be a turning point for a very tentative stock market.    Read More

Government officials claim the refi plan has been extremely successful, far moreso, they admit, than the modification program. But clearly it wasn't doing enough, or they wouldn't have widened the parameters of elligibility.   Read More

When you throw in a short-armed consumer and the massive deleveraging of both households and businesses, an ugly fiscal picture begins to take shape with deficits exploding beyond the already huge projections put forth by the White House.   Read More

Despite the anxiety around the June employment report Friday, traders say the market's reaction could be muted.   Read More

That's right, your loan can be a full 25 percent more than the current value of your home, and Fannie and Freddie will gladly buy and/or back your new refi.   Read More