House buyers thought housing prices would go up forever. So did the people who lent them money. Of course, fantasies were behind the whole boom. Americans lived beyond their means and thought they could do so indefinitely.

James Mound reviews futures and commodities in his weekly report for the week of March 3.

The Royal Bank of Canada is expected to ease rates by 25 points from 4.00%, although expectations are increasing that a 50 point cut may be in store, as a U.S. downturn is weighing on the Canadian economy.

Heading into the new week, the market is still favoring the bears.

Tim Bourquin interviews Chris Perruna, who talks about the three stock screens he uses each night, and why he likes stocks that are about to bounce off their 200-day moving average.

Professional system trader Art Collins shares his daily biases in the index, bonds and currency futures markets for March 3.

This week John Mauldin looks at several different definitions of inflation.

Are we now, at long last, faced with a long, slow slump a la Japan? There’s a whole ocean of difference between an island nation with huge savings, a thrifty population and an enormously positive trade balance, and a stretched-out empire, possibly in decline, running record deficits in its external trade and internal government finances, with an aging, over-paid, over-indebted workforce.

Upcoming, ISM Manufacturing may give an insight into the direction of the U.S. economy as its prices paid and employment components are leading indicators for future CPI data and Nonfarm payrolls.

The market took a turn once again on Thursday, but the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average vastly underperformed as compared to the Nasdaq.