John Burns Real Estate Consulting has released some unhealthy statistics regarding new home purchases from January through mid-October 2009. 59% of sales have been dependent upon government financing programs such as FHA, VA and USDA that allow purchases to be financed at 96.5%-100% loan LTV (loan to value). The highest use of FHA financing was in Northern California (68%), while southern Florida builders reported the highest percentage of cash purchases - a good thing (22%).

Two hundred and sixty-two home building industry executives from public and private companies responding to the survey also provided the following statistics, as of early October.

The Financial Times had an interesting article buried in the back pages of the second section yesterday regarding Islamic debt defaults.

It seems as though two prominent Middle Eastern investment companies - Kuwait's Investment Dar and Saudi Arabia's Saad Group - are at the cusp of a legal battle that will largely determine the $1,000bn Islamic-style bond industry. This bond industry is one of the fastest growing niches of international finance. The deal is simply this: invest in Islamic operations that can technically comply with Islamic law against interest while providing a product that creates a guaranteed or floating interest rate that is, well, not an interest rate. A product such as this is called a sukuk.

Ordinarily, I examine only three things about a restaurant: the cleanliness rating, the menu (including the specials of the day, which are usually to be avoided from bitter experience), and the price. I haven't eaten at a Cracker Barrel for some time. Per chance, I was driving the family by a Cracker Barrel around brunch time Sunday after church and we agreed to eat there.

I was very impressed by the clean, friendly atmosphere at Cracker Barrel. The menu was refreshed a bit from what I remembered, especially the non-breakfast items. Prices were well within the reach of a family on a budget and the staff was not overly attentive (you know, the "Is everything all right?" every thirty seconds). The gift shop was generating sales and the merchandise did not appear stale and dusty as I recalled on a previous visit many months before. And the food was substantial, properly plated and served quickly.

Recently, I visited a large D R Horton (DHI) community near Calabash, North Carolina. I took a seasoned local contractor acquaintance with me for company, comments and to catch up on the local gossip. As we all know, homebuilders. for the most part, have been slow to adjust to the new economy of change and at the lower end of the new home price point spectrum, even slower to produce a 21st century residence which includes the energy-saving expectations and and construction applications at a less than rip-off price to unsuspecting entry-level homebuyer.

I came away from this visit very impressed with Horton's game plan - and even more importantly, pleasantly surprised at the amount of homes under construction non-spec. Price points for single family, townhouse and cottage residences were less than competitors, especially the local contractors, of which there are many in the Wilmington-Myrtle Beach corridor. Walking through homes under construction, the bones and finish quality were very good. Subcontractors on site were complimentary to the company, although no one was happy with 2009 wages if they were part part of the pre-2008 construction feeding frenzy. I also spoke with a few homeowners and all were highly satisfied with their new home (the North Easterners were just overjoyed to "get out of Dodge" and enjoy a superior climate, much lower taxes and less risk of crime).

I am familiar with the platforms of several online brokerage firms. Trading stocks on every service is generally easy and prompt. However when it comes to bonds, there is definitely a difference. Trying to research and invest in bonds on most of the sites I tested ranged from mediocre to downright awful.

E*Trade (ETFC) was the most comfortable bond service platform I used.

Mohammed El-Erian, Chief Executive and Co-Chief Investment Officer at Pimco has again warned investors of the investment climate ahead.

Through an op-ed piece in the Financial Times, El-Erian warns investors to begin to think and act in terms of absolute and current facts - not the rates of projected change. He used a recent, blunt quote from the Governor of the Bank of England as the foundation of his article. "It's the level, stupid - it's not the growth rates, it's the levels that matter here." Investors have not accepted the reality that absolute levels of income, debt, wealth and unemployment are what really matters today. The outlook for major countries will continue to be driven by the levels of these key variables.

Trulia, Inc. announced that 26% of homes currently on the market in the United States have experienced at least one price cut. The data was the fourth straight month of price reduction data and was 10% larger compared to June of 2009. The data on the study was current as of September 1, 2009.

As stated in RISMEDIA,the steady rise in price reductions are a signal that sellers are still trying to adjust to market conditions. Trulia, Inc. states "that the $8000.00 federal tax incentive will extend the home purchasing season beyond the summer months, continuing to drive competition amongst sellers and ultimately leading to more price reductions", creating a great buying opportunity for eligible buyers.

Does anyone remember how several States improved their student achievement test scores? Dilute the measurements to obfuscate the result, they did. And no one was the wiser.

Now, a new and improved FICO scoring scheme will allow more individuals access to refinancing their present home or buying a new one. The developer, Fair Isaac Corporation, predicts this new analysis instrument will help lenders reduce default rates on consumer loans from 5 to 15 per cent. One hangup - Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) have yet to approve the new credit score tool. Until they do, the traditional model scores will suffice.

Tobacco companies jointly filed a lawsuit in Kentucky against the U.S. and the Food and Drug Administration, claiming a law signed by President Obama in June of this year imposes "unprecedented restrictions" on First Amendments Rights.

For instance, the law prohibits tobacco companies from jointly marketing their cigarettes with non-tobacco products. Also, they can't market or describe any products as less harmful than others unless they have approval to do so from the FDA. This includes a new generation of smokeless products, which may be less harmful than cigarettes. Or, not harmful at all.

Tax Credits for a greener America are in fashion. In each case, we may as well admit up front that these type of programs amount to taking money from all taxpayers to fund pet environmental whimsy of the environmental crowd. The State of Florida, amongst others, had rebate programs to save the planet in place until it ran out of money. The solution? Use federal stimulus money to front it. Astute investors and consumers will take advantage of these programs to a certain degree, hopefully after reading the fine print (such as the up to $4500 of TAXABLE income that was credited to those who transacted in the recent vehicle "clunker" program).

The Miami Herald recently ran a story highlighting several of these programs.

Many investors, including myself, feel that the market is due for a correction. Some predict with the increased national debt, weaker dollar and a Congress unwilling to grasp both, even worse things may occur that will effect our standard of living now and, especially, in the future.

One sector that may withstand a negative outlook are food processors. I used a computer screen to isolate those with anticipated growth of 10-25% next year. All appear stable and quite a few are international in scope. I must admit to having several obscure companies grace my computer screen. I did investigate all of them to a certain degree and without exception they look quite acceptable for investment consideration.

In an astute political move, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius on Sunday said that providing citizens with the option of government-run insurance is not essential to the Obama administration's overhaul of U.S. health care. Evidently, the administration has caved on this very important issue, leaving the door open for private health insurance companies to move forward with creative products and profits for shareholders. Of course the devil will be in the details, but at fist glance Team Obama will expand health using cooperatives similar to the public/private scheme in the domestic utility industry.

Here are potential winners for investors to explore. Beware of using the insurance index ETFs as your vehicle, as the health care sub-sector is in play now, not all insurance stocks.

Many apartment owners can't wait until 2012. If the economy recovers, they will be looking at a perfect storm of events - a shortage of available entry-level housing units, a boom in demand driven largely by Millenials (real-estate jargon for those just about ready to strike out on their own), and the ability to push rents significantly higher due to a shortage of suitable apartments.

Tom Bozzuto, CEO of the Bozzuto Group, a Greenbelt, MD.-based multifamily manager overseeing 28,500 units in the Mid-Atlantic states, told Multifamily Executive Magazine recently that "It's not a lot of fun right now to be in the apartment business. But, you take pleasure in knowing that this is the trough in the wave."

The July Credit Suisse First Boston Monthly Survey of Real Estate Agents was made available on Friday for institutional clients and consultants on the survey. Presented monthly, this 60-page (or thereabouts) publication has been an extremely accurate and predictive document - my first choice when I begin pondering my monthly real estate strategy.

Almost always, I focus on the top fifty metro markets and regions, primarily interested in the pure statistics and opinions of "boots on the ground" agents and investors that make this such an excellent read. Another feature of this monthly survey lists agents recommendations for national builders. The percentage number is based upon positive less negative responses from agents. This is an important reflection on these builders, and thus their stock, as over 40% of new home sales involve a real estate agent.

Retirement-bound investors face an uncertain future for mandatory withdrawal of funds from applicable accounts unless Congress acts on one of several pieces of legislation. The Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) will be back in effect for 2010, which means investors must begin withdrawing money from their accounts when they reach 70.5 years of age and pay appropriate taxes, if any. The RMD requirement was waived for 2009 when the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 became law on December 23, 2008.

There have been a number of bills introduced in Congress, any of which would extend the RMD waiver past 2009, or, to increase the minimum age that triggers the RMD from 70.5 to 75 years of age.

As investors, we as a species generally like to explore some of the more eclectic investment vehicles for fun, and sometimes for profit. FISN, the Federally Insured Savings Network has been at the forefront of offering sightly off-the-mainstream products to both retail and institutional investors for years.

Here are a few of their current ideas combining an attractive guaranteed interest rate, if certain conditions are met.

As South Korea tolerates the threats from the sputtering dictatorship of North Korea, I believe that now is a good time to consider speculating that the wild gyrations of the gang up North are a bluff as the government begins to wobble and weave with the ultimate result a change in leadership, father to son or other.

In any event, North Korea's feudal state cannot continue and whomever or whatever gains ultimate power will have to make economic and political accommodations with South Korea as well as her other contiguous neighbors. North Korea's two strongest allies (Cuba, Iran, Syria and Venezuela aside), China and Russia, must be getting fatigued with the pathetic missile tests and computer hacking akin to a child screaming for attention. It is no longer worth their efforts to prop up North Korea, as the geo-political game has changed to other points of focus.

Let the monies roll in! The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 has arrived in an urban area near you. Almost $4 billion in Federal grants and an almost equal amount of matching State and Local Grants are pouring in to targeted urban areas for the purchase, renovation, demolition and new construction of homes.

My opinion is that this operation will ultimately fail. But for the investor, the ability to purchase and make use, for better or worse, of real estate with this manna from heaven is compelling as an immediate investment opportunity.

Amidst the commentary, sometimes investors just need a list of ideas to contemplate. The Standard and Poors' Neural Fair Value Portfolio, updated regularly, provides for the investor a list of their top 25 companies that are considered to have superior price appreciation potential. The Neural roster has generally outperformed the S&P 500 Index (SPY) by a significant margin.

Naturally, this list is for your use to begin an inquiry into whether one or more of these recommendations will be suitable for your portfolio. Without elaboration, here it is:

As many of you, I have been observing the writings of resume-rich bloggers gaming the Obama economy, new ETFs, gurus-on-call, talking heads (not be be confused with gurus) and listening to the media watchdogs, whether they be in the tank for the present political leaders or not.

Of particular concern to me is the utter lack of commentary (or strategies) to invest holistically. Everyone seems to be focusing on stocks, bonds and/or their cumulative funds and are missing or intentionally ignoring geo-political and taxation realities that the investor must take into account to navigate portfolio currents using the maxim,"it is not what you earn, it is what you keep" as the guiding light of any investment strategy.