If You Thought the Housing Meltdown Was Bad…
Doug Hornig, Senior Editor, (Casey Research):

…wait until you see what’s in the cards for commercial real estate.

The stock market is up 51% from its March 9 lows. The leading economic indicators have turned sharply positive, showing gains for each of the last four months. Manufacturing is on the rebound. And banks are promising to pay record bonuses, as their earnings have rebounded.

What a wonderful time to be alive! Never has it been easier to feel superior to our fellow man! So many dopey ideas…so many preposterous delusions! So many fools…so eager to part ways with their money!

Everywhere I look, I see the word “bubble” – quickly followed by the word “burst” or “deflate”. So what exactly is a “bubble”? Well, it used to be the sort of thing that one had in a hot tub bath when there was a lot of soap.

President Bush insists the US economy is in a “downturn,” but legendary investor Warren Buffett warned today that the US is in a recession — one that will be more severe than most people expect.

“This will not be short and shallow,” said Buffett on CNBC. “I think consumers are feeling gas and food prices and not feeling they’ve got a lot of money for other things.”

Speaking about the ongoing US credit crisis, Buffett said: “I think there will be rippling secondary, tertiary effects …