1) The spread between Treasuries and AAA rated corporate bonds is now 300 basis points, the largest since the Great Depression. At the first hint of the end of the credit crisis hedge funds will rush to buy corporates and short Treasuries against them and this spread will come screaming down. With a leverage factor

1) A new wrinkle has developed in the housing crisis. Loans have been sold so many times that banks are unable to foreclose because they can't find the original loan documentation. This could affect up to 40% of the anticipated 1.5 million foreclosures in 2008. New businesses like youwalkaway.com have sprung up to help borrowers

1) The Architectural Design Services index fell sharply in January from 55 to 50. The boom, bust level is 50. Below 50 means that more business is being completed than there is new business coming in. This is the second consecutive quarterly decline. A drop in architectural services is followed by a decline in commercial

1) In the last bear market we had six false rallies of 5% over an 18 month period. Then the market was discounting both the dot com bust and 9/11. We are four months into this bear market and so far we have had two false rallies. The main driver has only been changing accounting

1) Sony won the format war with its blue ray DVD's. The final nail in the coffin was Walmart's announcement last week that it will no longer carry Toshiba's rival HD-DVD format machines. This is the first time that Sony has won one of these wars. Remember Betamax?2) Credit Suisse announced $2.8 billion in write