Home prices fell 6.7% in October, a record decline according to CNNMoney.
It was the largest drop in more than 16 years and marked the 10th consecutive month of price depreciation and 23 months of decelerating returns.

"No matter how you look at these data, it is obvious that the current state of the single-family housing market remains grim," said Robert J. Shiller, chief economist at MacroMarkets, in a statement. The shocking, revelation that housing prices were being artificially inflated by speculators who are now now off speculating on something else is finally hitting people:
According to Schiff, one factor that will drive prices lower is a change in buyer psychology. "The prices that existed were completely artificial, a function of speculators who are no longer in the market," he said. "Some buyers thought they were going to get rich."

Today, however, that demand has all but disappeared. "More people want - or have - to sell," said Schiff, "because prices aren't going up, so buyers have to look at the actual cost of owning a home."What? Buying a home to actually live in? People do that? We're going to plug our ears and go watch Flip That House.

Ouch. Bear Stearns loses money for the first time in 80 years. [Dodging tough questions about the student loan company's fiscal well-being and strategy in the midst of the credit crunch, not to mention his recent sale of 97% of his company stock, Sallie Mae's CEO ended a conference call yesterday with investors by cursing, People who are about to retire often find themselves faced with a million different brokers who have a million different great ideas about what they should do with their savings. It can be overwhelming, but Kiplinger has a With all the hoopla in the media about all things Chinese—exports, Chinese investors in the United States, the U.S. trade deficit with China, and so on—we thought this