Readers suggested a topic around economic signs. "Offbeat signs of possible financial desperation. 1. At work yesterday, I heard the people running the social club (which theoretically operates on an cash-based honour system) discussing one person who was into the club for over $300 in IOU's."

"2. The weekly duplicate I attend at the local Bridge Club has seen a significant drop-off in numbers over the last year. There's a quiet belief that some pairs are playing rubber bridge at each other's homes to avoid the fees."

One added, "We know that stores like Home Depot and Lowes are empty and having problems since they are directly related to housing. But what about stores that aren't related to housing in any way?'

"Recently, I have had to buy some new clothes. In two stores I go to, both were empty when I went. Both of them are also running a lot of buy one shirt (or pair of pants, etc.), get the second shirt (or whatever) 50% off deals. This is in addition to the $20 off coupons they sent me (which I have never gotten from either of them before). The whole thing reeks of desperation on their part."

One had this, "Usually Borders and Barned & Noble are busy on weekends, but a few days ago they seemed a little quieter than usual. Macy's is dead. Catalog stores are sending me sale emails every day of the week. (Probably because I broke down and bought a few things.)"

Another posted, "I work with car dealerships and times are sure tough for them. One service department went from seeing 140 new cars everyday two months ago to an average of 70 new cars daily. The sales department just can't seem to get the suv's and anything priced over 30k off the showroom floor. The traditional cliente of said dealership are 100k+ annual income types."

One on groceries, "I went to the local Kroger today around lunchtime. It was deserted. It was like being there in the middle of the night. When I went to checkout, I was the only person there, all of the lines including the self check out were empty."

"This week I was also in one of the upscale northern burbs. A new ritzy non-anchored retail center called The Avenues had just opened. It looked to be about 90% leased. But within a 2 mile radius there are at least 5 brand new unanchored retail centers that are completed with no tenants. I've never seen even one new retail center in the Atlanta market that was not immediately leased up."

"And scariest of all, there are now green & white government signs posted on Hwy. 9 in Roswell ( another upsacle area) to direct people to the North Fulton County Food Bank. I guess this is where all the former Kroger shoppers have gone."

The Orlando Sentinel from Florida. "The auction of the remaining 20 or so office condo units in the north and south towers of The Plaza in downtown Orlando went more slowly than many expected Thursday, one more sign of the stagnant real estate market."

"Most of the suites that were sold range from 2,600 to 3,500 square feet. The three largest, priciest units on the top floor of the south tower went for $150 per square foot. They were originally at $265 to $285 per square foot."

"Other units generally sold during the auction for $141 to $147 per square foot. 'These are prime locations,' Lori Chipps said, urging bidders on, sometimes dropping down to $1 per square foot increments when the bidding slowed. 'This is an unbelievable deal.'"

The Asbury Park Press from New Jersey. "Little Silver resident Bruce Jennings has had his four-bedroom house on the market since December. He started by asking $489,000. He has reduced it several times to its current price: $449,000."

"Prospective buyers have attended open houses, but, so far, no serious offers have come in, he said.

"'There seems to be people going around, kicking the tires, but since the market has been declining, they are offering very, very low numbers to try to 'steal' one as opposed to coming in with comparable sales,' said Jennings, a senior loan officer at Allstate Mortgage in West Long Branch."

"The economy may be one reason his home has not sold yet, he said. 'My house would be perfect for a young couple, or young couple and a child, but they don't want to take on the financial obligation of a house right now because they are afraid of the economy.'"

"Jim Brown, executive VP at USA Financial Services in Spring Lake Heights, said the market is seeing so-called 'short sales.' 'There are a lot of homes that are for sale that people are just literally trying to get out from under their mortgages,' he said. 'They are solid citizens, but they are not willing to wait the risk out. They are having trouble paying their mortgage and they are trying to sell.'"

"Lawrence Vecchio, a broker in Middletown, estimated that 10 to 20 percent of the deals at his company are 'short sales. 'In most cases, they (the banks) are taking it because they want to get it off the books,' he said. 'They don't want to go through the foreclosure.'"

The New York Times. "Robin Sotire thought she had a financial plan all worked out when she moved from Arizona to Connecticut in the summer of 2006 to handle her mother's estate and care for an elderly aunt. She was going to sell her house in Arizona, fix up her mother's three-family home in Stamford using home equity loans, and then sell both houses."

"With the profits, according to her plan, she hoped to pay off a $645,000 mortgage she had meanwhile obtained to buy her dream home in quiet, rural Redding."

"But Ms. Sotire's dream soon deteriorated into a financial nightmare and has turned her into a statistic in the national foreclosure story. The self-employed healer and metaphysical mystic is in at least $1.6 million debt and facing foreclosure on both Connecticut properties. After taking out a combination of first and second mortgages, refinances and home equity loans on all her properties, she plans to file for bankruptcy."

"Ms. Sotire financed much of her debt in 2005 and 2006 through 'no doc' loans, where she didn't have to verify income. She said brokers seemed satisfied when she told them what she believed her potential income to be, based on a certain number of clients she estimated she could see each day."

"Though she had more than $500,000 of first- and second-mortgage debt for the Stamford loans, and still owed $149,000 on the Arizona house, she went ahead and bought the Redding colonial. She said she even used some of the money from the mortgages and equity loans for a $70,000 down payment on the Redding home."

"Ms. Sotire expected the profits from the sales of the two homes to pay off most of her mortgage for the home in Redding."

"Jack Scherban, a Stamford lawyer who represented Ms. Sotire on the closings of several of her loans, said he cautioned her that she might be in over her head. 'It was piling on. I said, 'Are you sure you can do this?' but she definitely had a plan,' he said. 'She's very strong-willed and she was going to go through with it.'"

"As she juggled the Stamford and Redding properties, Ms. Sotire fell into a cycle of refinancing to get cash to stay afloat and avoid the steep increases of adjustable rate loans. She said she was unable to work as a healer - she is certified as a master in the Reiki technique - because she was so busy juggling all her responsibilities."

"Even though she knew it was a risk to buy the Redding home before the other properties were sold, she said she needed a quiet house where she could work."

"'At times I was robbing Peter to pay Paul and was amazed when I got mortgages, but I really thought I'd be able to pay everything,' she said. 'When houses didn't sell, everything spiraled down. Looking back, I'm smarter and would do things differently.'"