One Fed president is talking about housing this afternoon. "Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher on Monday said U.S. inflation was running too high for comfort, but that the central bank had until the end of June to decide how that might impact interest rates. Fisher said that while the U.S. housing market appeared to be moderating, there was still a lot of strength in the economy."

"'(Housing) is clearly cooling..there are other offsets; the real issue is what will be the impact on consumption,' he said."

"Fisher also stressed that central bankers were earnest in their pursuit of price stability. 'Were I trendy, I suppose I could remind you that in the devout culture of central bankers, every numerary wears the cilice of inflation on his or her intellectual thigh as we pursue our avowed goal of providing the monetary conditions for sustainable non-inflationary economic growth,' he said."

From Freddie Mac. "The recent decline in U.S. housing prices will likely pinch consumer spending but will not dent growth dramatically, Freddie Mac Chief Executive Richard Syron said on Monday. 'We may see enough of a softening to have an economic impact,'said Syron, a trained economist who worked at the U.S. Central Bank before moving to the second-biggest U.S. housing finance company."

"During the real estate boom, many people bought second homes as investment properties but now those homeowners may want to look elsewhere to earn better returns, Syron said. The slowdown in housing prices might continue for a little while longer, Syron said, adding, 'having housing become more affordable is not a bad thing.'"

The New York Post. "So now he tells us. Alan Greenspan finally said what he thinks about the housing boom he almost single-handedly created. 'The boom is over. I think we can safely say that with a strong degree of confidence,' Greenspan told a Bond Market Association Dinner at Cipriani in Midtown on Thursday."

"Greenspan then added, unconvincingly: 'It's too early to determine what impact a slowing housing market would have on consumer spending.'"

"Fortunately for ol' Al, the bellinis were flowing freely. After one of the worst weeks for the financial markets in more than 3 years, Greenspan's comments left many with an eerie feeling about the bad hand the Maestro's successor may have been dealt. Amid fresh signs that inflation is percolating at an unacceptable rate, what's a central banker to do? Raise rates of course. For Bernanke it's double jeopardy."

"Were we still a nation of savers, further rate hikes would actually put money into Americans' wallets. But this is 2006. Americans, on average, have little savings and whatever wealth they do have is mainly tied up in real estate. As USA Today reported Friday, baby boomers are counting on that real estate to fund their retirement.Millions of boomers see their homes as a 'bank' from which to extract equity to pay for retirement."

"Now that housing is likely headed for a soft landing, at best, Greenspan, the architect of the virtuous upward cycle, says he can't tell if it will affect the consumer? And for this, he gets paid $250,000 a speech?"

"No doubt Bernanke is in a real pickle. The recent performance of the big housing stocks, all at or near 52-week lows, suggests that we'll be lucky to get away with the painless easing in home prices Greenspan hopes for. But as investors sensed this week, Bernanke doesn't have the luxury to wait and see."

"As the folks at Bridgewater Associates note, the Fed already looks to be badly behind the curve: 'One of the real questions facing the markets concerns the inflation picture. The classic warning signs have been flashing red, recent action in commodity prices, art prices, home prices would have made virtually everyone hit the panic button in the 1980s.'"