U.S. housing starts and permits unexpectedly plummeted to record lows in April, torpedoing hopes of a housing market recovery as well as hopes the overall economy is regaining traction.

Markets slip again on weak housing data, economic outlook, Greenspan speaks: what the great contrarian indicator had to say this time, and plenty more…

Foreclosures rise…  Green Shoots, no so green!  Getting on a bus…  Losing a triple A rating? And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

As you scour the globe for potential post-financial-crisis profit plays, don’t overlook Taiwan. Stock markets around the world have already started to rebound with joy as investors begin to believe that that the unpleasant global recession is finally nearing its bottom.

Being an underground investor means always trying to see past the “groupthink.” And it means trying to spot the man in the ape suit before the crowd does (which is always too late).

The path to permanent wealth is paved with high-yielding dividend stocks and reinforced with gold. With a housing market that’s in tatters and an economy that’s reeling, most U.S. investors see the current market as perhaps the worst ever to even think about such topics as saving, investing and wealth.

Has the housing market hit an absolute bottom yet? Perhaps, but probably not. But there are at least indications however that things could start turning around.

“We’ve averted” the risk of a depression, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said this week. “Now the problem is to get the thing working properly again.”

A pair of crucial economic indices seesawed in February, helping some analysts to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Unemployment is on the march, the plummeting housing market has yet to find a bottom and top U.S. companies in the banking and automaking sectors remain downright shaky.