Fed’s Beige Book Shows Downturn Slowing; Home Depot Says Worst Is Over; ReFi Apps Slowest Since November; Senate Mulls Bigger Home Loan Tax Credit; U.S. Becomes Largest Shareholder in Citi; Rising Energy Costs Could Stunt Global Recovery; Top Economist Considering Senate Run

This promises to be a very busy week with a full calendar of economic reports and earnings announcements, so let’s dive right in and highlight some of the more important ones.

Well we have made it to the end of another year, and this one has been quite a ride. This is the last full trading week of the year, so barring a huge rally, the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P will all end the year with losses north of 30 percent.

Every day, 8,000 Americans turn 60 years old… Some 40% of U.S. adults are over 60… America’s “old-timers” are the driving force behind big, safe returns for health care investors.

Yes, I’ll admit it: I’m bearish on the stock market. I’m still concerned about sending more funds out into the market for one fundamental reason: Rampant energy inflation.

In the currency market, the dollar firmed against the euro. Late Tuesday, the euro was trading at $1.5696 vs. $1.5763 on Friday.

The bull market in oil comes down to just two simple numbers: The world can’t produce more than 85 million barrels of oil per day. The world wants 87 million barrels of oil per day.

The base metals were mostly in the black on Friday. Copper bottomed out at $3.72 in the pre-dawn hours, but rallied straight through from there to finish at its intraday high of $3.8099/lb., up 6 cents.

A US government home-price index has posted the sharpest decline in its 17-year history – and analysts say things won’t get better until at least 2009.

Home prices fell 3.1% in the first quarter compared with last year, according to The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. This from AP:

Declines in the government index, which focuses on less expensive properties and includes fewer houses bought with risky home loans that have gone sour over the past year, show the depth of the housing market’s troubles.