Several readers suggested a topic on the overall economy. "I would like to see a discussion on what 'nebulous' indicators do you see pointing to a recession: I was at a trade show in LA and noticed that a lot of women wearing long dress skirts. Recalling from my early econ class: An indication of a recession is long skirts. Short skirts/fashions indicate a booming economy."

One answered. "I drive through Visalia, Ca. about once a week and there are 1/2 a dozen 50 house lots that the graders are doing their thing to and it looks as if they’ll build the houses, although there is no need for more new houses, with over 2,000 on the market, in a city of 100,000."

"What do you think goes on in the brain trust of the homebuilders? Is it that they’ve bought the land and all the building material already and full speed ahead, damn the torpedoes, or are they just house building savants that don’t know any better?"

Another said, "I noticed a few weeks ago that Home Dumpo isn’t even staffing the registers in the middle of they day now. Just one person at the 'self check out' section. How much does one low wage cashier cost? They must be pinching pennies."

A reply, "I visited Home Depot last summer when I was in the States. Nobody was at the checkout registers. I thought to myself WTF? Nobody wants to take my money. Finally someone directed me to the 'self check out' booth and I almost laughed my azz off thinking about how that 'self check out' booth would go down in Moscow. I left the items I wanted to buy at the booth and went to Lowes."

Another anecdote, "In mid-October, I visited a Lowes store in Tucson. Only one cashier in the main store, and this was on a lovely Saturday morning. (Perfect for doing projects around the house and yard!) The garden center had one cashier station open, and they briefly opened a second to handle a sudden uptick in traffic."

One looked at the media. "A broader topic that I have been thinking about: Does the MSM contribute to the risk of severe financial dislocation by hiding the proverbial elephant under the rug?"

"Because we keep seeing story after story in the press these days about the housing market 'bottoming out' with no supporting evidence. In fact, occasional items suggesting the inventory of vacant new homes is at a record high level, builders are continuing to pile on the new inventory, prices are falling faster than official statistics reveal (thanks in part to builder incentives masked by fraudulent appraisals) and foreclosures are rising all generally point into deterioration, not a bottoming out."

"At some point, happy talk loses its force when any greater fool can see the huge gap between what gets reported and the evidence on the ground. Even so, we have seen an occasional post documenting how the LA Times kept talking up a recovery from roughly 1989-1996 last time around (and by 1996, they were right!)."

A reply, "The GF(s) out there just want what they want, so they gleefully skim over negative reports and focus only on the positive spin that will help ratify their decisions."

One asks for a definition. "What’s YOUR definition of 'recession' and are we already in one?"

The Washington Times. "Economic weakness spread beyond the stricken housing and auto sectors last month, with reports showing U.S. manufacturing shrank for the first time in 31/2 years and construction dropped the most since the September 11, 2001."

"An unexpected decline in construction of offices and other business facilities in October added to a record string of drops in housing construction of more than 1 percent in the last seven months to cause the biggest drop in construction spending in six years, the Commerce Department said yesterday."

"'Industry is clearly going through a rough patch' that few anticipated, said Daniel Jester, analyst at Moody's. Outside housing and autos, the Federal Reserve had expected business to pick up rather than decline this fall, supporting a so-called 'soft landing' in the economy."

"'Two major manufacturing markets are declining -- motor vehicles and housing -- and many other industries are trying to adjust inventories to adjust for a period of much slower growth ahead in 2007,' said Daniel J. Meckstroth, chief economist at the Manufacturers Alliance."

"The 'awful' collapse of the construction market in October means that sector is likely to be a major drag on economic growth for the fourth straight quarter in the final quarter of 2006, according to Economy.com estimates."

"'Housing slowdowns tend to lead recessions rather than result from them,' said economist John Makin. 'An annual drop in the growth rate of residential investment of more than 10 percent has coincided with a recession five of the seven times it has occurred since 1965.'"

From Bloomberg. "The housing slump is also resulting in job cuts at construction companies and related industries. Builders shed 26,000 jobs in October, the most since February 2003, the Labor Department said. 'The weakness in orders and obvious further declines in housing-related activity suggests more weakness in coming months,' said Steven Wieting, managing director at Citigroup Global Markets."

"'Construction and manufacturing are certainly the anchors weighing down growth at the moment,' said economist Joshua Shapiro. 'Consumer spending is hanging in there, but there are certainly a lot of crosscurrents that will lead to pretty anemic growth in the fourth quarter and probably the first quarter as well.'"

The Palm Beach Post. "Ask Nancy Bagley about the relationship between the housing slowdown and her net worth, and the Delray Beach homeowner is emphatic. 'Absolutely, I feel less wealthy,' says Bagley."

"It's a sentiment shared by many homeowners in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast as the once-sizzling real estate market cools. The median price of a single-family home in Palm Beach County fell 12 percent from October 2005 to October 2006, the Florida Association of Realtors said last week, while national home prices dropped a record 3.5 percent for the year."

"An increasing number of home sellers are getting less than they paid for houses bought last year or earlier this year, according to Palm Beach County property records."

"Ronnie Pryor says she'll spend about $1,500 on Christmas gifts this year, the same amount she spent last year. Though Pryor is pessimistic about the economy, she says the housing market won't affect her spending. After all, she's not selling her house now, so she can ignore short-term fluctuations in its value."

"But, Pryor says, 'If you have to sell, it's very tough.'"