Wow, good luck with your loan! Yes it's so much tougher now.  I'm looking to buy a new house next year; I expect housing to still decline quite a bit further.  I recently about a used BMW and even though I could have easily paid for it with cash, as an experiment I wanted to see how easy it would be to get a loan since I have my own business and don't have pay stubs like most people (and so already that's an issue), but of course I have a lot of cash and savings and high credit scores.  My loan should have been approved right on the spot, but they still needed to review it and get back with me.  Therefore when my wife and I plan to buy another house next year I can only imagine how tough it could be!  Listen, if my scenario plays out i.e. the economy and stock market take a drastic down turn this fall and go to new lows, along with deflationary forces coming back into the economy NOT inflationary, then loans will be even harder to get.  I think this fall and into early next year is really going to be a scary time for most Americans as things deteriorate once again.  Remember the 'dread' of last fall when the world seemed like it was coming to an end, unfortunately I see that returning again.

regarding your other questions, I'm over all that in the weekend newsletter.  Also OIK is another crude ETF.