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We track the calls that come into our show and the Consumer Action Center. There's been a shift during the last 30 days from calls about debt and credit questions to calls about the housing market. About 35 percent of your questions now deal with this latter topic.

In some of the most speculative markets in the country, a much larger percentage of homes than previously thought were owned by speculators who never intended to live in them. This is referred to as occupancy fraud. What happens when these homes go into foreclosure? Usually, an increase in foreclosures equals an increase in demand for rentals. As people get displaced, they have to have to go somewhere. But in this case, the normal cycle of displaced demand is upset because the foreclosed houses were ghost residences. This end result is that housing recovery in spec-heavy markets will take longer to happen and the decline in values could be deeper than anticipated. The Wall Street Journal reports that Nevada, Arizona, Colorado and Florida will be hardest hit by this trend.

Meanwhile, homes in Michigan and Ohio are very inexpensive, but for good reason. Both states have declining job markets. Sure you can steal a deal, but where are the jobs? Some builders have responded by offering price protection. Always remember that housing is cyclical and will recover. What makes the occupancy fraud scenario different is the combination of spec building in oversupply and the dangerous lending that fueled it. So it's going to take longer to work off the excess in many places.

People are buying sub-compacts vehicles like crazy these days. Clark loves to ride around in sub-compacts when he's overseas in Asia. Foreign markets are all about the economy of packing as many people into a vehicle as possible. For example, Clark's Scion XB seats about 5 people over here, while 12 people will squeeze into the same vehicle over in Japan. Even high-end manufacturers like BMW and Mercedes are getting into the sub-compact market with their 1 Series and SmartCar brands, respectively.

Because of the sub-compact sales frenzy, you may now be able to buy one size larger for less than you would pay for a sub-compact. The fuel economy losses in going bigger may only be a couple hundred bucks a year. Even Clark who is obsessed with dinky cars knows there's more comfort in compacts like a Toyota Corolla. While Clark has pre-ordered the SmartCar, he may still decide to go with a compact instead. Dinky-mobiles deprecate at a faster rate than compact cars. Plus, the additional fuel economy they give may not offer you as much bang for your buck as you'd get by stealing a deal on a compact.

CLARKONOMICS: Mid-priced and high-end retailers have been reporting terrible January sales figures. This trend was not expected when you consider that sales of gift cards were slightly up during the holidays. The only retailers who made out OK were the deep discounters and warehouse clubs. Macy's has just announced they're going to be cutting more than 2,000 jobs amid their January sales decline of 7 percent. When you factor in inflation, the mega-retailer has fallen off a cliff. Part of the problem has been the company's corporate arrogance. They decided all their goods had to be self-branded and got rid of their beloved Marshall Field's imprint (and a lot of warm, fuzzy customer goodwill in the process).

This downward trend in retail means there are going to be deals in the mass affluent market (Coach, Tiffany, etc.) and at mid-priced clothing retailers. One area where you won't find bargains is in the world of flat-screen TVs. There's just too much demand still. Prices in some cases are higher than they were in October. Meanwhile, the Wii still is in short supply. The Wii is allowing nursing homes to have far more activities than they could previously, thanks to its virtual simulation of physical activities.

Wal-Mart was met with so much hostility and skepticism when they launched their $4 prescription plan. People thought they had ulterior motives, but the monster retailer really just wanted to build traffic. Wal-Mart didn't originate the cheap drug business model -- Kmart was already offering a 3-month supply for $15 -- but so far they've been the most successful with it. Everyone in the market has had to respond to Wal-Mart's challenge with their own discount prescription drug plan; regional supermarket chain Publix has even made some antibiotics free!

Now Kroger, the nation's largest supermarket chain, is expanding its trial $4 prescription plan to select markets in Kentucky, Kansas, Utah, Nevada, Georgia and Texas. They're also offering birth control for $9/month. Most doctors are clueless about prescription prices. They're wooed by Big Pharma reps coming in with free food and other swag, and they write prescriptions accordingly. Consumers now have the power to take control of the prescription pad at their doctor's office. So use the power the market affords you to protect your wallet! Before you leave your doctor's office, call the pharmacy and find out if the drug you need can be substituted with a generic. Have the doctor change the script if need be. Take the control back. It's your body and your wallet.