although the housing decline has been described as a "sub-prime" crisis, these two articles point out the "alt-a" and so-called "prime" loans are/will be going into default too.

standard and poors as well as moodys and fitch have now downgraded alt-a debt. people with better credit also borrowed more than they could afford, but their loans may have a 5-7 year grace period, as opposed to the 2-3 year teaser rates on sub-prime mortgages. so we are nowhere near a bottom, and real estate prices will be under pressure for several years to come. or as ed steer put it, "call me in 2013, and then we'll talk about a real estate bottom."

so for the next five years at least, silver and gold will be the place to be, and financials will be the place to avoid.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/04/bu...

http://mrmortgage.ml-implode.com/200...