And so it begins

WASHINGTON - Housing construction plunged in August, falling to the lowest level in more than three years as the once-booming industry showed further signs of a dramatic slowdown.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that construction of new homes and apartments fell by 6 percent, the third consecutive decline and a much bigger setback than analysts had been forecasting.

The weakness pushed the annual rate for construction down to 1.665 million units, the slowest pace since April 2003.

Meanwhile, wholesale prices edged up a modest 0.1 percent in August, and outside of energy and food, prices actually fell for a second straight month. That hadn't occurred in more than three years, the Labor Department said.

"We have been warning that the housing downswing seems to be deeper than the Fed has been expecting and that the downside risks to housing are substantial," Seiders said.

He said the biggest worry is if investors, who flooded into the market in the past two years to take advantage of double-digit home price gains, now start dumping houses back onto an already glutted market.

Major housing implosion is inc... with a major wave of foreclosures..

I'll take a grey ZO6.. kthx.