"We wish to make it clear that even the most seasoned of professionals... even the most touted of hedge fund mavens... even the most public of bears are having difficulties in this environment. No where is that clearer than hearing that David Einhorn, the gentleman made famous by his well reasoned, well documented, well organised, truly professional bearish attacks upon the likes of Lehman et al, is down for the year! Berkshire Hathaway, run by Mr. Buffett, is down for the year.

In this environment, staying even is a very, very real triumph. Being ahead is very nearly unheard of. If Mr. Einhorn is down for the year, what then shall September's results look like for the universe of hedge and mutual funds when they are made public in a few days? It shall not be pretty. Indeed, it shall be very, very ugly.

A basic lesson in economics: When demand falls and supply increases, prices fall. But that's not the case with Manhattan real estate. Manhattan apartment sales fell for the third consecutive quarter, down 24% from a year earlier, and inventory rose by a third. But prices are continuing a five-year streak of gains.

The median price of condos and co-ops increased 7.4% to $928,263, the second-highest price on record. The crisis on Wall Street has cost the city approximately 64,000 jobs – the highest-paying jobs in New York – and some experts estimate the total jobs lost will hit 90,000. When the huge, year-end bonus checks stop flowing through to condos this Christmas, sellers will probably wake up."

Chris Mayer who writes Capital & Crisis for Agora Financial weighed in on Friday, October 3rd with some timely observations on the economy:

"Please read the following notes carefully. The unspooling credit crisis is severe -- extremely so. According to my old banking contacts and others I’ve spoken to in the field, the credit markets are about locked up. Money is tight.