To be sure, it was not a week for the bulls. Data for job creation, jobless claims, and manufacturing are signaling an economic slowdown.

However, one experienced observer of economic activity is arguing that all is not lost yet, regarding the still-young U.S. economic recovery. Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan argued that the recovery is undergoing a "typical pause" that will be structured by the performance of the stock market, CNBC reported.

That the year 2009 has had more than its share of disappointing economic developments would not be front-page news (or even top-of-the-web-site news).

But the return of the 'wealth effect'? That's almost stop-the-presses stuff: former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said 2009's bull market in stocks is reducing the need for additional stimulus actions, Bloomberg News reported Thursday.

Aided by U..S. stock market gains, U.S. household net worth increased by $2.7 trillion in Q3 to $53.4 trillion, according to data compiled by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

During the roaring 1990s, it was called 'merger Monday' -- due to the plethora of corporate mergers announced on the day, driven by the robust U.S. economy.

In the current sluggish (or perhaps worse) U.S. economy, it's becoming known as 'morbid Monday' -- due to the spate of unpleasant predictions publicized on the day.

Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney filled the August 4 installment of the latter by predicting that housing prices will fall more than 30% and banks will remain reluctant to lend until the credit crisis wanes, CNBC reported Monday.

To be sure, the housing sector is a jumbled, uncertain morass, so in order to provide some clarity on the sector (and to either confirm / refute several conventional wisdom points), BloggingStocks Monday corralled economists Peter Dawson and David H. Wang.

Point 1: Those states hardest hit by the housing sector, California, Florida, Nevada, will be the first to recover.

Dawson: Not true. Wang: Most un-true.

"You may find a $300,000 or $350,000 bargain in California or Florida, but understand that five years down the road that home may be roughly the same price in real terms, after inflation," Wang said. "Job creation in an area will determine which way house prices are going in a region in the years ahead, much more than how bad the local housing market is now."