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A few years ago, Clark talked about a new trend in the job industry whereby companies were firing smokers. We did a poll on the topic at the time and the majority of voters thought it was wrong to fire someone with a job because he or she smoked. There is a huge lawsuit underway involving Scotts lawn care company, which instated a policy saying the company does not employ smokers. The man who is suing was fired after the company conducted a random drug test and nicotine was found in his system. The company was spending millions on health care to take care of smoking-related illnesses, so it created the policy. Since then, the company also put $5 million into building a health and wellness center to help employees become healthier. Its’ tough love, but it has worked for many employees and the employer. So, is an employer stepping across the line with these policies? Clark says yes, but he thinks Americans need it. If 70 to 80 percent of employees are now using the facility, it’s working. We’ll keep you posted on what the courts decide.

Clark gets a ton of questions about the housing market, as he travels around the country. There is a lot of uncertainty in the market and people wonder what is going to happen. Despite the fact that a few places such as Salt Lake City and Atlantic City are still doing well, housing prices have had the biggest year-over-year drop on record. As a result, some lenders are closing up shop because they had so many “non-performing” loans from people who couldn’t pay their mortgage. So what does it all mean? Great opportunity is coming for homebuyers. Homebuilders are cutting costs because they aren’t getting as many customers. Foreclosures will start popping up, and condominiums will be a huge deal if you know how to negotiate. Condos rose the highest in value, so they have the farthest to fall in price. You don’t want to pay more than 70 percent of what the peak price was in the area on condos. You’ll start to see the best deals in what were the hottest spots of the real estate boom. This won’t happen until late 2007 and early 2008, but keep your eyes open.