Obviously one of the biggest news stories this past week was not only the takeover of Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) by government regulators, but the the subsequent market pyrotechnics we saw on Monday with Lehman Brothers (LEH) and now AIG (AIG).

There's still plenty of uncertainty and volatility to go around including the question of whether the Fed bailout will indeed stop the bleeding in the housing market and now financials.

(Speaking of Fannie and Freddie, it's interesting that just last week the chief executives of both builder Toll Bros. (TOL) and retailer Home Depot (HD) said they believed the housing market was at or very close to its bottom, a welcome sign. You've gotta wonder how they feel now).

The fact that the average 30-year mortgage fell below 6% this past week has to be seen as a positive. Putting on our longer-focused lenses, it's clear that the combination of falling home prices and falling mortgage rates will give a broader swatch of Americans the opportunity to own their own homes. The ones who are prudent in their buying and financing will be the beneficiaries.

Bleak News Abounds

There's no getting around it: The labor report last Friday was not good, with the unemployment rate jumping from...