The Group of 20 (G20) met in Scotland over the weekend, bringing together central bankers and financiers of nineteen countries, and the European Union (EU). The collection of nations constitute 80% of world trade and two-thirds of the world’s population. (1) Discussions of “re-balancing” the world economy have taken place over the last few months by members of the G20; those sentiments continued this weekend in St. Andrews, but apparently only in general terms. (2)

Widely hailed as good news, housing starts increased 17.2% in May to annual adjusted rate of 532,000. This certainly means the real estate market and thus the economy are heading back in the right direction. Not so fast there slick. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the 2009, according to Bloomberg, there were 19 million vacant houses in the United States!