The company wants to be profitable again by 2009, but economic headwinds, including higher commodity costs and a housing slowdown that affects pickup truck sales, make it a slog.

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Housing is not gold-like in the sense that gold priced in all currencies tends to rise when currencies decline in value, but the historical correlation between commodity spikes and nominal housing health is very real, and was there during the Bush years for all to see.

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Right now that list includes most of the Middle East (with Saudi Arabia topping the list), gasoline prices and how the consumer will react, the tightening campaign in places like China, commodity inflation, Ireland, housing in the U.S., banking almost anywhere in the world, the state of the economic rebound, etc.

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Almost commodity-like in its price movements, housing has historically been a safe investment, its long-term value on an upward path no matter the economic climate.

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He certainly deserves credit for being ahead of the curve, in warning of commodity inflation around the turn of the century, the dangers of the housing bubble and the dangers of excessive sovereign debt.

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In Australia the slowdown in housing did make a big dent in construction and consumer spending but this was masked by the commodity boom and exports to China.

ECONOMIST: The global housing market