You can now own a slice of paradise for a third of what it cost a few years ago.

From Bloomberg.

I agree.  Prices are out of whack.

No, says a veteran of bank collapses elsewhere around the world.

We here at Running of the Bulls spent the first few years of this blog warning about the utterly insane things going on in housing, so much so that we made it a frequent topic.  Just click on the Real Estate link to the right of this article and scroll through some of the older posts to see what we were saying.

After news of a possible investment in Citigroup by the federal government spiked the market higher on the open, investors immediately hit the bid and ground the market lower throughout the day.

The selling was relentless as stocks were given little time to breath.  All day, the sell orders overwhelmed the market as buyers stepped aside.  Stocks tried to rally around 2pm but were banged down into the close.

Generally, as markets approach extremes, opinions and predictions become more and more outlandish.  Remember those who predicted oil was about to go to $250?  Or when the Canadian dollar would rise to US$2?

From The Wall Street Journal

I find this quote just amazing. 

It implies that the most investment managers believe that stocks do not have a place in a well-constructed portfolio.  The author finds it necessary to remind readers that ownership of stocks is not evidence of an unhinged, reckless investment strategy.

We here at Running of the Bulls have a proprietary fear indicator that has been pretty good at calling near-term bottoms.  (I have no idea if it works at a long-term bottom since a long-term bottom has been sorely absent.) 

That proprietary indicator is the number of hits received on this website. 

Generally, traffic to Running of the Bulls rises appreciably when the market is at or approaching a bottom.  Conversely, when the market is improving, traffic drops.  (That's not the only reason why it drops. - ed.)

The American government is considering increasing it's stake in Citigroup to 40%.

Citigroup Inc. is in talks with federal officials that could result in the U.S. government substantially expanding its ownership of the struggling bank, according to people familiar with the situation.