A little bit of gloom and doom, but it's better to be aware, and ready, than unpleasantly surprised, right?

"The city is broke.  We can't afford the circuses. Perhaps fireworks are a luxury we can do without," said Alderman Joe Moore.

"We are on the verge of a great, great depression.  The [ Federal Reserve] knows it," said Peter Yastrow

"If we do not see a meaningful recovery in home prices by the end of the year, we may need to contemplate impairment charges on first liens owned by banks and wholesale write-downs of second lien exposures.  This implies solvency issues for Bank of America, Wells Fargo, J P Morgan and Citibank, and big losses for the U S Government and private investors," says Chris Whalen of Institutional Risk Analytics.