Sales of existing homes fell more sharply than expected in June as the housing industry continued to be bruised by the worst slump in more than two decades.

Bloomberg: Pimco’s Paul McCulley Says Plosser Wrong on Rate Hikes

As we look out over the next six months what we see will be extraordinary. The opportunities for prepared investors have never been brighter as the unfolding volatility will be incredible. “Volatility is Opportunity” for the prepared investor and it will arrive in spades. After a short period of corrective activity I believe explosive moves in almost ALL SECTORS (interest rates, stocks, commodities, natural resources, currencies, and more) lay on the near horizon.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Washington Mutual has a policy of not accepting IndyMac checks, even though, as everyone in the world knows, those checks are backed by the FDIC. Which is to say, theyre backed by the federal government. Still not good enough!

Falling U.S. home prices will force financial firms to write down $1 trillion from their balance sheets, crimping bank lending and sparking sales of assets, said Bill Gross, who manages the world’s biggest bond fund.

While gold has suffered strong selling in recent sessions it is only working off an overbought position ( it was up 15% in just over a month - from $857.00 on June 12 th to over $988 on July 15 th ) and a correction and consolidation is healthy and normal. This looks likely to be the last such sell off prior to a strong rally into the autumn as is typical. Gold seasonal patterns often result in lows in July or August prior to strong rallies into year end.

Whether it’s a credit crunch to fix or an Olympics to plan, the list of Goldman Sachs alumni is sure to have a candidate

America’s middle class is increasingly squeezed by sagging incomes and soaring expenses, experts told Congress on Wednesday.

Bank of America saw net income sink 41 percent in the second quarter compared to the record-setting figure it hit during the same quarter last year.

Details of todays housing bill by Congressman Dr. Ron Paul:

A government rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would require taxpayers to pay “way” more than the $25 billion estimated by the Congressional Budget Office, potentially as much as $1 trillion, easury Secretary Henry Paulson “hasn’t told us the truth about this bill,” Senator Jim Bunning said.

The American people are famously slow to anger, but they are outdoing themselves in long suffering today.

Global crude demand is expected to rise by 1 percent this year to 86.85 million barrels a day, after a 1.3 percent increase in 2007, the International Energy Agency said in a July 10 report.

Capping off a wide-ranging legislative response to the housing crisis, House lawmakers approved a multibillion-dollar package to assist homeowners and prop up government-sponsored mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Wednesday.

The financial throes of the country are now so severe, that some people are seeking a new language to understand it. On Monday, the Zimbabwe government introduced the 100 billion Zimbabwe dollar note .