America is mired in a deep recession – and the market’s problems are there for most people to see. Almost everyone I know is thinking more carefully before spending these days and companies are desperate for the business. Except Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW), it seems…

The late Thursday afternoon rally in gold on the Comex didn’t have much follow-through during Far East trading on Friday. However, activity picked up once London opened for business, and…with the exception of three attempted selloffs that failed…it was a solid up day through London, Comex floor trading, and the Globex electronic trading that followed. Silver’s price pattern was the same as gold’s. As I said yesterday, it was critical that both metals held support above their respective 50-day moving averages…and it’s obvious that they did. Volume yesterday was around 112,000 contracts, net of switches.

Circuit City was the latest bankruptcy domino to fall last week. Andrew Snyder says more big-name retailers could soon follow. But this is just the economy working as it should. The weak fail and the strong just get stronger. Andrew says the fall of Circuit City is great news for Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), who will become clear market leader once this crisis is over.

Early indicators suggest that there is still some life left in the American consumer. The hordes were back out for the Thanksgiving weekend, though mega discounts means retailers will still struggle to break even. Martin Denholm says investors should stick with bargain-oriented retailers like Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX).

The residential real estate sector is in shambles and, some economists say, will not recover until the end of 2010, at the earliest. Now it looks like commercial real estate may be the next block to fall in our “Jenga economy.”

GMAC Files to Become a Bank; Unemployment Nears 26-Year High; Mogul Signals Interest in Circuit City; Banco do Brasil Buying Out Rival; Crude Continues Slide; JPMorgan Cuts 3,000 jobs; Stock Market Craters.

HP Beats 4Q Forecasts; Carrefour Milks New CEO From Nestle; InBev Officially Closes Anheuser Buy; Home Depot Beats 3Q Estimate; Gulf Bank Loses $1.4 Billion; Mexican Tycoon Interested in Circuit City; Wholesale Prices Plummet

Circuit City (CC) made it official on Monday and filed for bankruptcy. Only a week ago, the company announced it would close 155 stores that were underperforming. On September 29, the company reported a third-quarter loss of $239 million, which was three times larger than the loss for the same quarter a year ago.