Is the U.S. housing market truly at a turning point, as investors seem to increasingly believe? Or is this actually a false dawn, meaning that there are problems and pain ahead for those who turned bullish too soon?

Housing Market Showing Signs of Stability? Puh-lease!

New housing starts fell in December to the lowest levels since the government started compiling statistics in 1959, as surging unemployment continued to rock the real estate market. 

New home construction fell in November by the largest amount in a quarter-century, as builders slashed production while facing the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression.

Consumer Confidence Climbs; Home Prices Record Plunge; Troubled Banks on the Rise; Oil Falls 7%; Slim’s Bank Buys Citi Stock; D.R. Horton Shares Vault

Expect more pain in the housing market next year, says Don Miller. Rising unemployment will keep the foreclosures coming. And as the backlog of inventories swells, Don says homebuilders still look ripe for shorting in this environment.

Sony Goes Solo; P&G’s Socks Strong Second Quarter; Service Sector Shrinks; D.R. Horton Now a Fixer-Upper; Lehman in For a Trim; Adidas Brings its “A” Game; Farmland Values Skyrocket; Russian Fire Sale

• Bertelsmann AG will sell its half of Sony BMG Music Entertainment to Sony Corp. for $900 million giving the Japanese company full ownership of the joint venture, The Associated Press reported. A statement released by the privately held Bertelsmann said the new company will be called Sony Music Entertainment Inc.

• The Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) reported a 33% jump in fourth-quarter profit yesterday (Tuesday) as the consumer-products maker overcame soaring energy and commodity costs with higher prices and product improvements. The company said it earned $3.02 billion, or 92 cents per share, up from $2.27…