CLARKONOMICS: Clark recently heard bits of sobering news on the banking and housing fronts. First, the feds are providing $200 billion in bailout money to try to keep banks afloat. It's disturbing to Clark that banks which made bad bets are being propped up by taxpayers. Zombie banks should be allowed to fail as the marketplace dictates. But the feds are probably heeding the unwritten "too big to fail" rule. We'll have to see how it all plays out.

In our own financial lives, the equity we have in our homes is the lowest it's been since the Great Depression; it's now less than 50% for the first time ever. As part of trying to prop up the housing market, you can now borrow more from conventional sources. This means people with jumbo loans can refinance into conventional loans that may carry lower interest rates. This may affect you if you live in California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii or through the Northeast. See a complete list of the affected areas.

Finally, all the ups and downs of the market mean that there will be both winners and losers. The big winners are first-time homebuyers and some investors who can steal a deal from builders or on REO (real-estate owned) property. Some Europeans are even taking bus tours of foreclosures here in the United States. They're looking to leverage the Euro's strength against the dollar to buy properties at a fraction of their original cost. There is one caveat for the first-time homebuyer: You should put something down -- at least 5% -- in order to get a decent loan.